Social Work Competences

SOCIAL WORK COMPETENCES
Copyrighted Material
New Directions in Social Work
Series Editor: Antony A. Vass
Recent changes in the training requirements for social workers and

allied professionals have prompted the need for a set of textbooks to
address issues of knowledge, skills and practice as well as
contemporary social debates. New Directions in Social Work is
designed to cater for students' academic and professional needs, and,
in the context of new course guidelines, will address specific areas of
practice such as working with offenders; social problems and social
policy; children and young people; families; people with specific
needs; and working within the community.
SOCIAL WORK
COMPETENCES
Core Knowledge, Values and Skills
edited by
Antony A. Vass
SAGE Publications
London • Thousand Oaks· New Delhi
Editorial selection, 'Mauve', Introduction and Chapters 6 and
7 © Antony A. Vass 1996
Chapter 1 © Helen Cosis Brown 1996
Chapter 2 © Jennifer Pearce 1996
Chapter 3 © Jane Dutton and Ravi Kohli 1996
Chapter 4 © Ravi Kohli and Jane Dutton 1996
Chapter 5 © Beverley Morgan 1996
First published 1996

Reprinted 1997,1999,2001,2002,2004
All rights reserved. No part of this pUblication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in
writing from the Publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library.
ISBN 0 8039 7799 9

ISBN 0 8039 7800 6 (Pbk)
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd, King's lynn, Norfolk
Contents
Acknowledgements Vll
Notes on Contributors viii
Introduction: The Quest for Quality

Antony A. Vass
The Knowledge Base of Social Work 8
Helen Cosis Brown
2 The Values of Social Work 36
Jennifer Pearce
3 The Core Skills of Social Work 62
Jane Dutton and Ravi Kohli
4 Social Work with Children and Families 83
Ravi Kohli and Jane Dutton
5 Community Care and Social Work with Adults 106
Beverley Morgan
6 Crime, Probation and Social Work with Offenders l32
Antony A. Vass
7 Competence in Social Work and Probation Practice 190
Antony A. Vass
Index 221
For Dimitris Layios
Like a wreath around your face

The colour purple left a trace
Of life and death playing a game
Of love and hate
You tasted death, but chose life
You drunk the immortals' wine
To stay for ever alive and divine
('Mauve', Andonis)
Acknowledgements
The authors and publishers wish to thank the Department of Health

for permission to reproduce copyright material from H. Giller
(1993) Children in Need (Table, 'Levels of Prevention', p. 13) for
Chapter 4 in this book. Our special thanks go to Jim Brown, Child
Care Group, the Social Services Inspectorate, Department of
Health, for his friendly and very supportive response to our request;
and to the author, Dr Henri Giller, for permitting us to use aspects
of his work. At the same time we would like to extend our
appreciation to Dr Pauline Hardiker from whom Dr Henri Giller
obtained the information on primary, secondary and tertiary levels
of prevention.
We would also like to thank the London Borough of Greenwich
for permitting, under the Council's 'Discipline and Efficiency Rules
and Procedures', Beverley Morgan to contribute Chapter 5 in this
book. We appreciate that the chapter is the author's own work and
the Council accepts no responsibility for the author's opinion or
conclusion.
Jenny Bonfield and Kate Jarvis in the School of Social Work and
Health Sciences deserve lots of appreciation for their help in typing
Chapter 5 and transferring material on to Wordperfect for editorial
work. They are marvellous!
Finally, we are grateful to Rosemary Campbell, Jane Evans,
Gillian Stem, Karen Phillips and Beth Humphries at Sage for their
support and advice.
Notes on Contributors
Helen Cosis Brown is Principal Lecturer at Middlesex University

where she is the Programme Leader for the Master's in Social Work,
Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work and the Diploma in Social
Work courses. She was for nine years a social worker and team
leader in an Inner London social services department. Her publi
cations and research interests are in the area of sexuality and social
work; working with lesbian and gay men in social work; and
fostering and adoption.
Jane Dutton is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Middlesex
University and a staff member of the Institute of Family Therapy.
Previously she worked for many years as a social worker and
manager in local authority settings. Currently she teaches social
work knowledge and skills, anti-discriminatory practice, family and
group work, and work with children, young people and families.
Her research interests are in the development of systemic thinking in
child protection work, and in organisations. She has published in
these areas (under the names of Conn and Dutton Conn),
particularly focusing on gender and power differences.
Ravi Kohli is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Middlesex
University. His main teaching responsibilities and research interests
focus on social work with children and families, within the
framework of the Children Act 1989. Previously, he was, for a
number of years, a generic social worker and a senior practitioner in
children and families social work in London.
Beverley Morgan is Senior Care Manager, working with physically
disabled and older people, in a London borough. Previously, she
worked as a generic social worker, and with learning disabled and
older people in residential and community-based projects for a
number of years.
Jennifer Pearce is Principal Lecturer in Social Work at Middlesex
University. She is the Programme Leader for the BA Social Science
(DipSW) degree. Her teaching interests are in the delivery of anti
oppressive practice within social work and youth justice. Her
research and publications address issues for young women within the
Notes on Contributors ix
youth justice system. She is currently involved in a research project

concerned with urban safety and gender perspectives in crime
prevention within an East London borough.
Antony A. Vass is Professor of Social and Penal Studies and Head of

School of Social Work and Health Sciences at Middlesex University.
He is professionally qualified in social work (probation studies) and
has worked in various fields of social work as research worker,
community worker, probationer psychologist and probation officer.
He has published numerous articles in academic and professional
journals, is the author of five books including Alternatives to Prison
(Sage, 1990), and is editor (with Tim May) of Working with
Offenders: Issues, Contexts and Outcomes (Sage, 1996). He is also
co-writing a forthcoming book (with Geoffrey Pearson) on Social
Problems and Social Policy (Sage, forthcoming).
Introduction: The Quest for Quality
Social work and probation practice have always been in the news.
Normally, their appearance in the media signals bad news. This bad
news has been amplified by the numerous childcare inquiries which
time and again have found social work knowledge and practice to
be deficient and lacking in competence. In particular, social workers'
repeatedly exposed (albeit in some instances inflated) failure to
follow legal requirements, required standards, agency guidelines and
procedural rules; their limited and dated knowledge of the law;
and their lack of appropriate accountability brought disrepute,
diminished confidence and demoralisation to a battered profession.
At the same time such professional failures caused a public outcry
and calls on the government to curtail the powers of social workers
or to demand that they learn to be efficient and competent first
before they are allowed to practise. Questions about social workers'
training and the quality of that training began to be asked.
Social work and probation are, therefore, subject to considerable
upheaval. On the one hand, there is pressure on the Central Council
for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) from central
government to improve standards in social work and to ensure that
such standards deliver value for money. In tum, CCETSW comes
up with ideas, policies and requirements which are directed at
programme providers (education and training establishments). These
policies force programme providers to constantly return to the
drawing board for revisions upon revisions of those rules. Social
work in the United Kingdom is standing at the crossroads: there is a
distinct unease that it will emerge out of this upheaVal either as a
stronger profession or, as some fear, a weaker and ineffective minor
anomaly in the social and political structure of contemporary
Britain.
Added to those concerns is the Home Office's expressed intention
to alter probation officer recruitment and qualifying training by
opening up recruitment to almost anyone who is prepared to
consider working in the probation service and removing probation
training from the higher education sector (Dews and Watts, 1994;
Home Office, 1995a, 1995b). Although this is not an entirely
foregone conclusion the very fact that it has re-established the old
2 Social Work Competences
rifts between the role of the Home Office, CCETSW, social work,
and higher education in the training of probation officers (for a
critical discussion see Nellis, 1 996) demonstrates that social work in
this country is still going through significant stages of development
and has not as yet reached, or been allowed to reach, a period of
consolidation to establish itself as a full-blown, credible and reliable
profession characterised by concreteness and distinctive purpose,
structure, knowledge, values and skills.
This recognition of the lack of distinctive core knowledge, values
and skills which social workers and probation officers could claim as
their particular property and the means to deliver competent
practice, prompted CCETSW to call for changes in the way in
which social workers and probation officers are trained. Since 1989
CCETSW has pursued a crusade to introduce the amendments
deemed necessary for raising standards and establishing a clear and
credible purpose, a knowledge, value and skill base for all social
workers including probation officers.
As a result, CCETSW introduced and approved a new qualifi
cation, the Diploma in Social Work (DipSW) as the professional
qualification for social workers and probation officers in April 1 989
and issued the Rules and Requirements for the Diploma in Social
Work, Paper 30, in September 1 989. The new qualification replaced
two former CCETSW qualifying awards, the Certificate of Qualifi
cation in Social Work (CQSW) and the Certificate in Social Services
(CSS). It was intended that the new award would 'signify that a
student has attained a national standard based on an agreed
statement of the knowledge, skills and values needed for competent
social work practice' (CCETSW, 1991:5). CCETSW appealed to
universities and colleges to 'work collaboratively with social work
agencies as DipSW programme providers' (CCETSW, 1 991:6) and
made this a requirement for all programmes seeking approval.
At the time of approval, CCETSW also broadened the application
of the new DipSW by incorporating into its declared interests
and intentions the objective of accommodating and assimilating into
the DipSW the development of vocational and professional qualifi
cations offered by the National Council for Vocational Qualifications
(NCVQ) and by the Scottish Vocational Education Council
(SCOTVEC) and CCETSW in Scotland. CCETSW (1991:6) argued
thus:
The new DipSW needs siting in the wider arena of training for national
vocational and professional qualifications . . . CCETSW has developed
with others (particularly the Care Sector Consortium) a progressive
framework of education and training in social work and social care
leading to qualifications. New vocational qualifications and a post
Introduction: The Quest for Quality 3
qualifying advanced award are being introduced. Together with the

DipSW, they will provide a progressive system of education, training and
qualifications for the personal social services [including probation].
The Social Work Education and Training (DipSW) Rules 1990 were
approved by the Privy Council in November 1990 and amended in
June 1991. Similarly, the new Requirements for Probation Training
in the DipSW in England and Wales were approved by Privy
Council in June 1990. A second edition of Paper 30, stating the new
requirements, was issued in September 1991.
The primary purpose of the DipSW, and hence the purpose of
social work education and training, was stated by CCETSW to be the
preparation of students for 'employment as professionally qualified
social workers and probation officers' (CCETSW, 1991:8). That
meant that the purpose of education and training was to create a body
of knowledge, values and skills which would lead to social workers
practising in a competent manner. The expectations of students (that
is to say, the statement of requirements) made this objective very
explicit. CCETSW clarified that the statement of requirements
referred to the competences expected and required of all newly
qualified social workers 'in all settings (field, residential, day, domi
ciliary, community and health care) and sectors (statutory, including
probation and education, voluntary and private)' (CCETSW, 1991:9).
Students were required to achieve and demonstrate core knowledge,
values and skills; competence in assessing, planning, intervening and
evaluating outcomes; competence in working with individuals,
families and groups 'over a sustained period in an area of particular
practice within the relevant legal and organizational framework'; and
competence in transferring knowledge and skills from one situation to
another irrespective of case, need, problem or context.
Hardly three years later and before programmes had time to
assimilate, accommodate and apply the new regulations, the effec
tiveness of the DipSW was questioned and new amendments were
called for. In January 1994, following central government's ex
pressed concerns about 'political correctness' and particularly Paper
30's emphasis on anti-oppressive and anti-racist practice, CCETSW
embarked on a fresh review of the DipSW in partnership with the
Care Sector Consortium (CSC), the Occupational Standards Council
for Health and Social Care. The new-found partnership with CSC
'recognised the Government's national standards programme and
the remit of the CSC to develop national occupational standards'. A
joint CCETSW/CSC Steering Group was set up and a group of
consultants, including the National Institute for Social Work, was
employed to 'develop national occupational standards for social
workers on which to base the revision of the Statement of Require

ments for the DipSW' (CCETSW, 1995:1). The Joint Steering
Group's remit was (CCETSW, 1995:1):
1. to achieve contemporary relevance for the qualification, in the

context of changing needs, legislation and service delivery;
2. to establish more consistent standards at outcome than on the present
DipSW;
3. to provide a sound professional base for a career in social work,
firmly located in higher education;
4. to secure the DipSW in the continuum of qualifications; and
5. to promote flexible opportunities for access to the education, training
and qualification.
On 23 February 1995, CCETSW Council approved the revised

DipSW and produced the first working copy of the new DipSW
rules and requirements (CCETSW, 1995). It curtailed references to
anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice and focused, instead, on
an Equal Opportunities Statement limited to four paragraphs. It
redefined the purpose, knowledge, values and skills of the profession
and presented a set of competences and practice requirements which
should be satisfied by all qualifying students. The new requirements
were meant not only to improve standards but also to promote
wider and more flexible routes to education and training toward the
DipSW: at non-graduate, undergraduate, postgraduate, college- or
university-based, employment-based, modular, distance learning and
part-time programmes.
In declaring the relevance and professional status of the new
DipSW, CCETSW (1995:3; emphasis in original) argued thus:
The Diploma in social Work is the professional social work qualification

for social workers and probation officers; for social workers in all settings
(residential, field, day, domiciliary, health care and criminal justice) and
sectors (statutory, including education, voluntary and private) and for
probation officers.... The DipSW is a UK qualification ... at higher
education level.. . . The DipSW prepares students for employment as
professionally qualified social workers and probation officers and lays the
foundation for their continuing professional development. The knowl
edge, values and skills required for competent social work practice for the
award of the DipSW are set out in full.... The main features of the
qualification are . . . to prepare students for work . . . and to prepare
them to anticipate and respond to future changes in need, policy and
service delivery.
Whether the above claims are sustainable it is too early to know.

However, statements about competent practice which incorporate
core knowledge, values and skills applicable to every setting and
sector of work are one thing. Identifying those core elements,
discussing them, applying them and constantly upgrading or

updating them to fit changes in 'need, policy and service delivery' is
another. There is a serious gap between good intent and actual
practice. Although there are many written statements on diverse
issues in social work and about competences, there is none which
brings together, in a critical, informative and practically helpful
manner, the links between knowledge, values and skills and the
emergence of competent practice. And this is where the present
textbook comes in.
We strongly believe that this book is novel in its approach and
content. It addresses CCETSW's intentions and concerns and those
of many others - from students and educators to trainers and
employers. How can students understand the purpose of their tasks?
How can they learn to search for and absorb relevant knowledge?
How can they be taught and understand the values of their
profession, and how do those values guide their work? How can
students be shown how to develop skills relevant to effective prac
tice? How can they be made to appreciate and practise in a holistic
way, that is to say, by developing abilities which allow them to
integrate knowledge, values and skills in order to produce competent
practice? Finally, how can they be made to know what competences
are important, what their components are and how those com
petences can be recognised in the quest for efficiency and quality?
In this book we have tried to address those questions in a
structured way. We offer a critical account and discussion of the
core knowledge, values and skills required by social workers and
probation officers for understanding their tasks and duties and
delivering reliable and efficient service. We then link those three
elements to a discussion about particular areas of work, or pathways
(a term used in the new DipSW: CCETSW, 1995). We have con
centrated attention on three pathways: social work with children and
families; community care and social work with adults; and crime,
probation and social work with offenders. Each area is covered in
some detail and readers will be helped to understand as well as
apply some of the core requirements expected in each of those areas
for competent practice. Finally, we offer a practical tool in identi
fying as well as monitoring competences. Having integrated the
knowledge, values and skills to produce a set of competences, we
operationalise those competences by stating their main components
and indicators for readers to use as heuristic devices against which
their own understanding and practice of competences can be
monitored, measured, amended, transcended or improved.
In order to achieve the above lofty goals (in an area such as social
work, which is well renowned for its ambiguity), a team of
experienced social work academics and practitioners with expertise

in each area covered was assembled to contribute to the book. Helen
Cosis Brown covers, in Chapter 1, 'The Knowledge Base of Social
Work'. The chapter discusses the historical context of social work's
use of knowledge and major weaknesses; the relevance of applied
social sciences; anti-discriminatory practice; knowledge which is
essential and helps practitioners plan appropriate intervention; and
how knowledge is an essential part of developing competent
practice. In Chapter 2 Jennifer Pearce addresses the importance and
relevance of 'The Values of Social Work' and demonstrates how
those core values are essential requirements for an efficient and
reliable social work and probation practice. In Chapter 3 Jane
Dutton and Ravi Kohli take up the issue of 'The Core Skills of
Social Work', identifying the core skills which every social worker
and probation officer should be able to use in order to achieve
appropriate outcomes.
The three areas are then integrated for a discussion around three
particular pathways. In Chapter 4, Ravi Kohli and Jane Dutton
cover major areas relevant to 'Social Work with Children and
Families' and provide useful pointers for good practice. Chapter 5
follows a similar theme but in this instance with reference to
'Community Care and Social Work with Adults'. Here Beverley
Morgan provides an historical account of discrimination against
'adults'; the emergence of community care; the effects of inefficient
and sometimes incompatible knowledge, values and skills; care
management as a needs-led process for assessment and planning;
service user involvement; the disability movement's view of com
munity care; and the knowledge, values and skills required for
competent performance in this area of work. Antony Vass, in
Chapter 6, offers a detailed diScussion of the knowledge, values and
skills required by probation officers and those working with
offenders for effective and efficient practice. The chapter, 'Crime,
Probation and Social Work with Offenders', also covers the
relevance of criminology and penal policy, theories of crime and
deviance, the organisational context of the criminal justice system,
sentencing and national standards, child protection and the
effectiveness of intervention.
Finally, in Chapter 7 Antony Vass brings the first part of the
book - the knowledge, values and skills - and the second part - the
three pathways - together to offer an integrative model of work that
combines the various types of core knowledge, values and skills to
produce a set of required competences. These competences are then
operationalised; in other words they are defined in terms of their
major components and indicators to guide the reader towards an
understanding of what competenees mean and what they may imply

in practice. The chapter concludes by suggesting that it is not the
tasks that social workers and probation officers do that matters but
how they carry out those tasks and to what effect.
In conclusion, we believe that this book will prove useful and
helpful to all social work and probation students, their teachers and
practitioners (and any other individual or agency, including perhaps
CCETSW and the Home Office) in their studies, practice and
policies. It may also assist understanding of social work and the
probation service's purpose, and how competent practice can be
achieved and attained.
Irrespective of the state or outcome of current debates about
social work and probation practice, current and future students will
find this book both relevant and useful to their professional needs.
References
CCETSW (1991) DipSW: Rules and Requirements for the Diploma in Social Work
(paper 30), 2nd edn. London: Central Council for Education and Training in
Social Work.
CCETSW (1995) DipSW' Rules and Requirements for the Diploma in Social Work
(paper 30), revised edn. London: Central Council for Education and Training in
Social Work.
Dews, V. and Watts, J. (1994) Review of Probation Officer Recruitment and Qualifying
Training. London: Home Office.
Home Office (1995a) Review of Probation Officer Recruitment and Qualifying
Training. Discussion Paper. London: Home Office (mimeo).
Home Office (1995b) Review of Probation Officer Recruitment and Qualifying
Training. Decision Paper by the Home Office. London: Home Office (mimeo).
Nellis, M. (1996) 'Probation training: the links with social work', in T. May and A.A.
Vass (eds), Working with Offenders: Issues, Contexts and Outcomes. London: Sage.
pp.7-30.
1
The Knowledge Base of Social Work
The relationship between social work practice and knowledge has

always been ambivalent, sometimes even dismissive. The social work
profession emphasises the need to link theory and practice, making
this ability a requirement for qualification. It has been argued that
the 'insistence that theory and practice are complementary aspects of
the same thing is part of a verbal rather than a real tradition in
social work' (Sheldon, 1978:1). Other research shows that few social
workers inform their work with theory, being more likely to rely on
their own experience or advice from colleagues (Carew, 1979).
Sheldon's work uncovered two distinct subcultures within social
work, a theoretical one and a practice one. Findings of work
undertaken by the theoretical subculture are either not believed, by
the practice subculture, or 'are seen as the products of a process
which has little direct relevance to the practice situation' (Sheldon,
1978:2). Although nearly two decades have passed since Sheldon
and Carew were writing in this area their conclusions may still be
true.
The use of knowledge is, not surprisingly, subjective. We are much
more likely to seek out knowledge to retrospectively justify our
practice and decision-making, rather than acquiring knowledge,
beforehand, to inform our intervention. Social workers sometimes
use selective knowledge to reinforce decisions that have been reached
on the basis of their belief system or value base (Brown, 1992a). This
tendency has led to discriminatory practice. The knowledge that
is used by practitioners may in itself be problematic. Research
findings based on small samples with methodologically questionable
approaches have occasionally established themselves as universal
truths in social work, with little foundation. Parton and others have
helpfully questioned some of these 'truths' within the area of child
protection (Parton, 1985; Violence against Children Study Group,
1990). It is now generally accepted, as a result of the growing anti
discriminatory practice literature, that knowledge informing practice
has often been relevant only to particular groups in society and the
indiscriminate use of such knowledge has contributed to, rather than
alleviated, clients' and service users' oppression (Brown, 1991; Bryan,
1992; Channer and Parton, 1990; Thompson, 1993).
Discussions about the knowledge base of social work may there

fore realistically be about what is considered relevant to prac
titioners, rather than what actually does inform their practice.
However, there has been nothing, within the profession, like the fear
generated over the last decade by the numerous childcare inquiries
(Department of Health, 1991b; Heder et aI., 1993), to sharpen
thinking as to why knowledge is relevant to social work practice.
The findings of the Jasmine Beckford inquiry (London Borough of
Brent, 1985) revealed practitioners to be lacking in the six areas that
Payne identifies as showing how theory has something to offer
practice: models; approaches to or perspectives on; explanations;
prescriptions; accountability and justifications (payne, 1991:52). In
addition, the panel of inquiry looking into the death of Tyra Henry
(London Borough of Lambeth, 1987) identified specific gaps in the
knowledge base informing the practice of those involved. The panel
felt there had been insufficient consideration of the impact of loss on
the individuals concerned and as a result the models, approaches,
explanations and prescriptions had all been tragically flawed. What
the childcare inquiries told both the profession and the public was
that ill-informed practice at best leads to incompetence and at worst
to loss of life.
There are many factors which contributed to the overhaul of
social work education and training in Britain in the late 1980s,
culminating in the new social work qualification, the Diploma in
Social Work (CCETSW, 1989, 1991). A major factor was the loss of
public confidence in social work's credibility, resulting from the
childcare inquiries. Social work as a profession required more clarity
in its expectations for qualifying social workers in relation to
knowledge. It needed to be clear about what knowledge was useful
in relation to its roles, responsibilities and tasks, as set out under the
three major pieces of legislation relevant to these: the Children Act
1989, the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and the National Health Service
and Community Care Act 1990. This chapter attempts to bring
together under three headings, relating to these pieces of legislation,
areas of knowledge and theory that need to be part of a social
worker's 'tool kit' for competent practice.
Social workers, approaching any piece of work, have to ask
themselves, and be able to answer, three simple questions: what am I
going to do?, why am I going to do it? and how will it be accom
plished? To be able to answer these questions, the social worker
needs to be familiar with the knowledge base of social work.
Numerous models have been developed to facilitate both an organis
ation and an understanding of social work knowledge (Barker and
Hardiker, 1981; Coulshed, 1991; Hanvey and Philpot, 1994; Howe,
1987; Payne, 1991). The different methods of organisation and

understanding offered suit the needs of some and not of others. What
is striking about the social work literature in this area are two things:
first that there is often a confusing interchangeable use of the terms
'theory', 'knowledge' and 'methods'; and secondly that texts about
social work theory and knowledge are primarily about methods and
models of social work intervention.
This chapter is organised under three headings that made sense to
the author of this chapter when she worked as a team leader in a
generic social services team, when trying to help the team answer the
what, why and how questions; and when preparing for or reflecting
on the team's intervention with clients and service users. These three
distinct areas are: knowledge that informs the practitioner about the
client's experience and context; knowledge that helps the practitioner
plan appropriate intervention; and knowledge that clarifies the
practitioner's understanding of the legal, policy, procedural and
organisational context in which their practice takes place. The
section addressing knowledge that informs the practitioner about
clients' experience and context will draw on three perspectives -
sociological, psychological and anti-discriminatory values and
practice. The second section, knowledge that helps the practitioner
plan appropriate intervention, will review methods and models of
social work intervention and the theories that inform them. The last
section, knowledge that clarifies practitioners' understanding of the
legal, policy, procedural and organisational context in which their
practice takes place, will relate to the three major pieces of legis
lation concerning probation and offenders, adults in need of support
services, and children and families. At the same time the discussion
will consider legal processes with which practitioners need to be
familiar in order to be competent.
By the very enormity of the knowledge base of social work this
chapter should be seen as a series of signposts, indicating areas of
significance to be explored further through other identified helpful
texts. Many of these signposts relate to particular areas of practice
that will be examined in the chapters which follow.
Before embarking on the main body of this chapter it would
be helpful to place the whole question of social work's use of
knowledge in its historical context. This will help to establish the
connections between the three sections identified above.
The historical context of social work's use of knowledge
The author of this chapter once heard social workers described by

an eminent professor as 'raving eclectics'. She did not approve of
eclecticism, and was not alone in seeing it as one of the fundamental

weaknesses of the social work profession. Payne (1991) helpfully
identifies a series of positives and negatives associated with eclectic
ism. This chapter reflects on one of the positive aspects he identifies.
'Clients', he says 'should be able to benefit from all available
knowledge so theoretical perspectives should not be limited' (payne,
1991:51). This needs to be the case, as social work covers the full
range of human experience and circumstances. However, it does
make thinking about the knowledge base feel both infinite and
unmanageable. Little wonder that the expectation that they can
master so much makes social workers fall back on their 'common
sense'. It is as though they rationalise that they cannot know
everything about all things human and 'common sense' comes to the
rescue as a solution to their predicament. Indeed it seems like an
instrumental adjustment - a conscious act of coping in the face of
the unknown.
In reality things are not quite as chaotic as might be feared. The
roles, responsibilities and tasks of social work are defined by
legislation. So it becomes a matter for the profession of defining
what knowledge is relevant to its practice within a particular social,
historical and cultural context. Social work, being a socially
constructed activity, needs to be part of and understood within an
interactive and dynamic process of becoming. This is essential, both
within the profession and between itself and service users, if social
work is to define an appropriate knowledge base.
In Britain, since the 1930s, social work, in its efforts to develop
into a profession, has sought out an appropriate and applicable
body of knowledge to draw on that would increase its credibility
(payne, 1992; Pearson et al., 1988; Yelloly, 1980). In this search,
during the 1940s and 1950s, it is not surprising that it turned to
psychoanalytic ideas, as social work and psychoanalysis were both,
at that time, concerned with developing theory and bettering
practice in the areas of attachment and loss. But the image of a
profession of female social workers - as of course they were, as
indeed they still primarily are (Howe, 1986) - calmly reflecting on
the analytic process with their clients is something of a myth. Social
work by its very nature has always had a significant element of
pragmatism, involving itself, as it has to, with the detail of people's
day-to-day existence as well as their innermost feelings. Pearson et
al. (1988:4) explain that the influence of psychoanalytic ideas in
social work 'never even approached a psychoanalytic takeover;
British social work was too firmly rooted in the Tawney tradition of
democratic socialism for that to be a possibility'. However, psycho
analytic ideas, rather than psychoanalytic method, did influence
social work and laid the foundations for the diagnostic and social
casework which dominated approaches to social work intervention
for at least two decades (payne, 1992).
Psychodynamic ideas were largely abandoned in the 1960s. This
was for a number of reasons, including the sometimes crude misuse
and rigid application of these ideas. As a body of theory they did
not easily translate into a social work method and it was difficult to
prove their effectiveness. The psychodynamic approach was too
individualistic in its assessments of clients' circumstances; its method
of social casework was no longer cost-effective and the recipients of
psychodynamic casework very often had no understanding of what
was going on, or of the purpose of the social work intervention
(Mayer and Timms, 1970).
Social workers' growing scepticism about the practical relevance
of psychodynamic ideas to their work coincided with the growing
credibility and apparent relevance of two separate disciplines:
sociology and psychology. This happened at the same time as an
increasing number of graduates and postgraduates entered social
work (from the 1960s onwards), many of whom had studied these
disciplines. During this period sociology and psychology were
interested in pursuing positivistic scientific methods of understanding
and research, which were both objective and measurable. This
offered a very different perspective from the SUbjective nature of
psychodynamic ideas. It was thought that these disciplines would be
able to offer objective explanations of clients' lives and circum
stances. During the same period there were a number of developing
theories and methods of intervention based on conscious processes
which were seen as directly relevant to social work practice. These
included problem-solving and crisis intervention theory, task-centred
work, systems theory and behavioural approaches, to name a few.
The social and political upheavals of the late 1960s had a
profound impact on academic disciplines and social work knowledge
and practice. Phenomenology was influential within psychology and
sociology and as a result on social work theory. Marxism, inter
actionism, structuralism and construct theory had an impact on the
development of radical social work ideas of the 1970s (Brake and
Bailey, 1980; Langan and Lee, 1989; Statham, 1978). As with
psychodynamic ideas, it would be difficult to measure the impact
radical social work had on actual practice. However, it was to have
an influence on the development of different perspectives and ideas
within social work theory and practice. It raised the awareness of
class as a fundamentally important concept within social work. By
its omission of race and gender from its discourse (with some
exceptions), it ironically made a contribution to the mushrooming of
anti-discriminatory practice ideas in precisely those areas in the

1980s. It is noteworthy that in the 19908 we have feminist social
work knowledge and practice (Hanmer and Statham, 1988;
Dominelli and McLeod, 1989; Langan and Day, 1992), and anti
racist social work (Ahmad, 1990; Dominelli, 1988; Husband, 1991;
Hutchinson-Reis, 1989) but no equivalent body in relation to class.
In the late 1980s and the early 1990s class politics (presumably
partly due to the rise of the New Right and the fall of socialist
states) was no longer in vogue, but identity politics was.
The eclecticism referred to at the beginning of this section is a
reflection of social work's flirtation with different developing ideas
since the 1930s. Social work has reflected the changing social,
cultural and historical context in which it has practised, and sought
out applicable knowledge accordingly. Today we have a whole
range of ideas and methods employed by different practitioners
working within different contexts, including the re-evaluation and
reclamation by some practitioners and agencies of psychodynamic
ideas.
Knowledge that informs the practitioner about the client's

experience and context
Social work has drawn on a number of different areas, including

anti-discriminatory practice, psychology and the social sciences.
There are many overlapping ideas and themes between all three,
particularly between sociology and anti-discriminatory practice. It
may seem inaccurate to describe anti-discriminatory practice as a
discrete body of knowledge, but over the last few years a significant
literature has developed, which merits attention in its own right.
Sociology, social problems and social policy

These three areas are separate but interrelated. Sociological ideas
and theories have helped to facilitate an understanding of social
problems, which in tum has had some impact on the formulation of
social policy (see for instance Downes and Rock, 1988; Pearson,
1975; Vass, 1984, 1986, 1990). It would seem that all three areas are
relevant to social work. It has been argued that social work has been
about the amelioration of social ills not about challenging or even
questioning oppression that might contribute to them (Jordan and
Parton, 1983). If this has been the case CCETSW, in the late 1980s,
by placing structural issues at the core of social work education and
training, was challenging how social work education had tradition
ally been delivered.
Burrell and Morgan developed a helpful framework of paradigms
that facilitates an understanding of the relationships between

different sociological debates: between radical humanists, radical
structuralists, interpretivists and functionalists (Burrell and Morgan,
1 979). Although there have been various comments about the
limitations of this framework (Rojek, 1986; Stenson and Gould,
1 986), it can make manageable, for social workers, different and
often conflicting sociological traditions and debates. Howe (1 987)
develops these ideas to locate different social work theories within
each paradigm. However we structure the study of ideas, they need
to be located within their historical, social and cultural contexts, as
their perceptions of individuals, families and communities are
accompanied by sets of interrelated values. These ideas can be
difficult to translate into relevant material for informing social work
practice, but this has been accomplished (Rojek et al., 1 988). Ideas
drawn from sociology, social theory and political theory offer
practitioners ways of understanding the society and institutions
within which they practise and the individuals, families and groups
with whom they work. One of the major ways sociology has
contributed to social work has been by its contribution to an
understanding of social problems, the centre of practitioners' daily
routine. At the same time sociological knowledge has introduced a
challenging critique of the state, its administrative machines (for
instance bureaucracy), its penal institutions (e.g. courts, prisons and
the police), inequalities in health, education and employment, and
has also raised questions about the professions' (e.g. social work)
caring and controlling aspects. Sociological ideas helped shift social
work from a position of pathologising individuals, to seeking a
broader understanding of the problems with which they were faced.
An understanding of poverty, crime, mental illness, deviance,
substance abuse, racism and violenCe has been facilitated by the
input of sociological theories into social work's knowledge base. The
development of ideas about anti-discriminatory practice started for a
number of different reasons, but the contribution of sociology is
indisputable.
In complex ways, which are neither linear nor causal, society's
understanding of social problems, partly aided by sociological
concepts and ideas, is eventually translated into social policy. For
example Goffman's critical analysis of institutions (Goffman, 196 1 ),
albeit with its own ideological and methodological flaws, con
tributed, in ways that would be difficult to measure, to the increased
pressure from all sides of the political spectrum for a move towards
vulnerable individuals remaining in the community wherever
possible. This pressure was eventually actualised in the Mental
Health Act 1983 and the National Health Service and Community
Care Act 1 990. Interrelated with the critique of 'total institutions'

was a parallel sociological critique of prisons, as well as calls for
new community penalties for the treatment of offenders (Vass,
1990), which culminated in the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 . Although
it is easy to extol the influence of sociological knowledge and
research on policy and practice at the cost of ignoring or neglecting
sociopolitical and economic contingencies in the formation of social
and penal policy (see for instance Scull, 1 984), the relevance of such
knowledge remains strong. Feminist analysis has acted as a catalyst
in developing social policy initiatives that are more sympathetic to
women and children (Maclean and Groves, 1 99 1). The study of
social policy has enabled practitioners to have an appreciation of the
historical development of welfare provision, leading to a more
complex understanding of the current contexts of social work and
probation practice and provision.
Fundamental to social work is the practitioner's understanding of
what clients may share in common and what may be beyond their
individual power to change. Sociology makes a unique contribution
to this. In toto, sociological perspectives and policy studies may not
have an immediate practical value to the social worker but they
manage, to use Vass's phrase, 'to galvanize social workers' con
sciousness about the society, the political and social context within
which they work. Sociology may not offer social workers immediate
practical tools, but it certainly makes them more informed and
competent professionals' (Vass, 1 987).
Psychology
Sociology offers the practitioner an understanding of social pro
cesses, society, systems and institutions, while psychology offers
explanations of individuals' behaviour and relationships with others.
As with sociology, there are numerous traditions and debates within
psychology. Social work has often organised its use of psychological
ideas within two separate frameworks: human growth and develop
ment or developmental psychology; and abnormal psychology or
psychopathology. The first has drawn on psychoanalytic psychology,
particularly ego-psychology, for example the work of Erikson
( 1 965), and the British School of object relations (Winnicott, 1 964).
Social work's understanding of abnormal psychology has been more
reliant on behavioural psychology and psychiatry (Gare, 1 980).
This organisation of psychological ideas relevant to practitioners
has helped to make a very broad area of study manageable. Social
workers need a working understanding of human development to be
able to make an informed assessment of their particular clients'
circumstances. By the nature of their work practitioners have to
1 6 Social Work Competences
be familiar with abnormal psychology, for they will be working, in

some circumstances, with people who are mentally disordered,
and also have to be able to identify someone who is in need of
intervention in order to prevent emotional deterioration, and to
differentiate normal human distress from the abnormal.
Social workers are not expected to be amateur psychologists or
psychiatrists. They are expected, however, to be familiar enough
with psychological ideas to draw on them to make informed
assessments and then to plan effective intervention. Practitioners
who act as approved social workers under the Mental Health Act
1 983 receive an additional post-qualifying training before they
undertake their duties.
Different branches of psychology have their own contributions to
make. Behavioural psychology has offered models of understanding
behaviour and models of change that have proved useful in a
number of ways. For example, the management of anxiety; man
aging agoraphobia; working with parents of enuretk children and
the management of problematic substance use. Social learning
theory (Bandura, 1 977) has contributed to aiding the independence
of people with learning difficulties, using such techniques as chaining
(fsoi and Yule, 1 982). Cognitive-developmental approaches (Piaget,
1 952) have made an impact on the consideration of environmental
factors necessary to children's development, proving important in
work with children and families. Social psychology draws on both
psychoanalytic psychology and behavioural psychology, while con
tributing its own unique perspectives on individuals within groups
and organisations. Social psychological ideas have been relevant to
social work in many ways, including the understanding of social
work agencies and their processes (Nicholson and Bayne, 1 990).
Like social work's relationship with sociology, practice benefits
from the study of the different schools of thought within psychology
in their applied and abstract forms. Psychology has a lot to offer the
practitioner in relation to specific problems and life events. As well
as giving a general understanding of human beings' behaviour and
experience, it can contribute to social workers' effective intervention.
Psychology has been profoundly influential in the development of
ideas around attachment, separation and loss (see for instance
Bowlby, 1 988; Kubler-Ross, 1 973; Parkes, 1972; Robertson and
Robertson, 1989; Worden, 1 983). Work with which social workers
engage usually involves some aspects of attachment, separation and
loss. These areas of psychological thought have contributed to work
with families; child protection; planning for children being cared for;
assessment of adults in relation to community care; bereavement
work, and through-care of prisoners.
Psychology and sociology have both proved to b e essential,

integral parts of the knowledge base of social work, enabling a
complex understanding of clients' circumstances. Their offerings and
approaches do not have to be mutually exclusive. They enable a
thorough assessment and understanding of a presenting situation
and help the practitioner to consider the most appropriate response.
For social workers to be able to practise competently they also
need to have an understanding of social research methods and
methodology; this allows them to assess the relevance and usefulness
of research to their practice as well as to be constructively critical of
their own practice. However, knowledge and its use is never a
neutral affair, divorced from its cultural, social and historical roots
and specificity. Anti-discriminatory practice and theory have made
an invaluable contribution to the necessary process of re-evaluating
social work knowledge.
Anti-discriminatory practice
Social work has stood accused of being, either by design or by
default, an oppressive institution (Oliver, 199 1 ; Langan and Day
1 992; Dominelli, 1 988). Both the structures of social work provision,
in their various guises, and social work practice itself have come
under scrutiny. The components of competent practice, knowledge,
values and skills have attracted very different amounts of attention
from critics of social work's discriminatory practice. Values have
often been the focal point for such discussions. There were, quite
rightly, questions asked about how social workers' own beliefs,
attitudes and values impacted in a detrimental fashion on their
clients. Although Chapter 2 on social work values explores this in
more depth, it is both relevant and necessary to cover the theme
briefly from a different angle here.
Earlier in this chapter it was proposed that social workers, like
many others, might seek out knowledge that sat comfortably with
their personal values and preconceived ideas. The content of much
social work practice makes objectivity a difficult thing. Ryburn
argues that in assessments of prospective adoption and fostering
applicants, striving for professional objectivity may be problematic if
not impossible. It is more honest and helpful, therefore, to declare
our subjectivity (Ryburn, 1 991). It may indeed be in clients' and
service users' interests for social workers to be aware of and declare
their subjectivity, but clients also need to be reassured that the
practitioner has taken cognisance of various perspectives on a given
situation to enable them to undertake informed decision-making, for
which they will be accountable. Social work's relationship with
knowledge is problematic because of the complex interrelationships
of knowledge, values and practice and the difficult interpretative

processes at play, as well as the often diverse and conflicting
interests which have to be defined and accommodated in any
decision-making context.
Knowledge itself may be problematic. Knowledge is a product of
a specific social, cultural and historical moment. It is not always
fact, and it is not finite, but needs to be a dynamic, flexible entity
if it is to be useful to social workers and their clients. Anti
discriminatory practice debates have been invaluable in con
tributing to the profession's own critical reappraisal of social work
knowledge, by highlighting social work's occasional treatment of
theory as if it were universal truth, often to the detriment of service
users. Models developed to test out theories were sometimes
applied as if they were the only reality, rather than being seen as
possible ways of viewing human experience. Wilson was one of the
first to explore this, examining social work's misuse and over
zealous, rigid application of psychodynamic ideas, particularly in
relation to notions of femininity. Reviewing a 1950s social work
text, she notes: 'The authors stress the importance of correct gender
identifications and the neurosis and immaturity to which those who
fail to become truly "masculine" or "feminine" are condemned'
(Wilson, 1 977:87).
Much has been written on the racist implications of the inappro
priate application of some psychological theories, when their
cultural specificity has been ignored. Phoenix, looking at theories,
based on the experiences of white men and women, of how human
beings become gendered, has reviewed the literature to examine its
applicability to people of African-Caribbean descent (phoenix,
1990). Difficulties arise when theories have not been reviewed in this
way.
Another example of the need to re-examine social work knowl
edge has been the applicability of material about the ageing process
and its relevance to lesbians and gay men (Berger, 1 990; Brown,
1992). As Berger (1990: 170) succinctly puts it, 'the professional
literature on ageing gave one the impression that homosexuality did
not exist among the elderly'. As a result of this, lesbians and gay
men 'have been ignored by both gerontological researchers and by
service providers'. Service provision and the quality of practice have
a direct relationship with the knowledge base of social work. If the
knowledge is flawed, or excludes whole communities, the outcome
will in some cases be incompetent practice and inadequate or
inappropriate service provision.
The work of the Women's Therapy Centre has been central to the
reconsideration of mainstream psychology's contribution to making
sense of women's experience (Eichenbaum and Orbach, 1 983; Ernst

and Maguire, 1 987). The ideas that have been developed have in
tum been influential in helping social workers re-evaluate their
practice. Lawrence (1992:32) suggests that a 'deeper and more
careful understanding of women's psychological development is
essential if social workers are to find a more helpful response to
women clients' .
For knowledge to have a meaningful relationship to practice,
knowledge and practice need to be engaged in a mutually influential
dialogue. When knowledge is considered that is relevant to a
particular piece of work, it needs to be contextualised socially,
culturally and historically. Sometimes this process has taken the
form of fashionable whim, resulting in ill-informed rejection of
important areas of knowledge. An example would be the rejecting
cynicism with which much of Bowlby's work is viewed by some
social work educators, students and practitioners. Bowlby's work
conveys a view that reinforces the supremacy of the heterosexual
family because he was reflecting the norms of the context in which
he undertook his work. However, none of this negates the crucially
important ideas he had about attachment and loss, which may be
universally applicable with adaptations to meet the needs of
different contexts (Bowlby, 1 988).
There needs to be reflection on and a re-evaluation of the
knowledge base of social work, as well as an encouraging climate
for new writing and research by practitioners, academics, educators,
trainers and students as well as service users, in the light of anti
discriminatory ideas and practice. Social work would be ill advised
to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater'.
Knowledge that helps the practitioner plan appropriate

intervention
Practitioners need knowledge to assist them in formulating a
complex assessment of a client's circumstances, experience and
context. They should also be familiar with models of social work
intervention and the processes involved in intervention. This is the
area often referred to as social work knowledge, and it covers a
confusing variety of theory, models and approaches, all subsumed
under one heading. Some of these models and theories have been
developed within social work, and some, like crisis intervention and
systems theory, have been borrowed from other disciplines and
adapted to fit different social work contexts. Within the social work
literature there is often a lumping together of areas such as behav
ioural social work, group work, psychodynamic theory, assessment,
review and evaluation, and systems theory. Clearly these are very
different. Some, like systems theory, represent a whole body of
theory which is then formulated into particular models of inter
vention, whereas group work can be seen as a method of social
work intervention. Assessment can be understood as a process that
is involved in social work intervention.
Theories and models

Currently social work represents a very different picture of knowl
edge and practice than that of the 1950s, when the dominant theory
was the psychodynamic perspective. At the present time prac
titioners and clients have the benefit of a range of ideas that can
inform the model of intervention they use. These theories and their
resulting models do not have to be used exclusively, but can
complement one another. They include: crisis theory, systems
theory, psychodynamic theory and behavioural theory. From all of
these there have developed corresponding models of intervention.
Other models draw on various theoretical bases, for example task
centred work. Yet other approaches to social work have developed
from political and social theories: these include anti-racist social
work (Ahmed, 1994); feminist approaches (Hudson et aI., 1994);
radical and Marxist approaches (payne, 1991); and participatory
approaches to social work (Beresford and Croft, 1993). This list is
by no means exhaustive. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to
discuss the theories or elaborate on the models involved. There are
excellent, well-referenced texts that offer helpful summaries for both
practitioners and students (see for example Coulshed, 1991; Howe,
1987; Hanvey and Philpot, 1994; Lishman, 1991; Payne, 1991;
Rojek et aI., 1988).
As said earlier, the disciplines of psychology and sociology have a
particular relevance to social work knowledge. This is nowhere more
apparent than in social work theory and models. There is a very
clear overlap between social work and psychology and sociology, to
such an extent that they are often inseparable. Some social work
models are developed from theories that have their basis in
psychology. Crisis intervention is a case in point. O'Hagan's (1986)
model of crisis intervention, which is probably the most applicable
to social services and probation settings, draws on a number of
theories and models, including systems theory and task-centred
models. It has its roots firmly planted in the classical crisis theory
and crisis intervention theory literature that developed within
psychology and psychiatry in the 1960s (parad, 1965), which in turn
drew on psychological work developed in the 1940s (Lindermann,
1944). Social work theories and their resulting models have evolved
over time and have responded to the changing contexts in which

social work has been practised.
Theories and models are never separate from social, political and
ideological meaning. Systems theory is an example of the complex
interrelationship of ideology, theory and the resulting model of
intervention. It shares many ideas with structural functionalism as
well as with biology. Hall and Fagen describe a system as 'a set of
objects together with relationships between the objects and between
their attributes' (1956: 1 8). Systems theory offers the social worker a
perspective which encompasses both individuals and their social
environment (Pincus and Minahan, 1973; Specht and Vickery, 1 977).
However, it is a theory and a model of intervention which, it has
been argued, is concerned with helping (or destabilising) systems,
whether they be families, teams or organisations, to function effec
tively and smoothly. It does not necessarily question whether or not
the system itself is in the interests of all its component parts.
Furthermore, the concept of 'system' can also be problematic, as it
may denote a set of organised social relationships (where there may
be few or none) and its scope is almost limitless. For example in
terms of translating the model into action, it will be an infinite task
constantly to define every possible 'system' in mapping out the
relations and connections between contexts and participants.
Feminists, developing a critical analysis of the family - arguing
that the family, as a system, was flawed because of how it had
developed under patriarchal capitalism and that as an institution it
served the interests of men and capital and acted against the interests
of women (Barrett and McIntosh, 1982) -have often been critical of
systems theory and of how it has sometimes been enacted within
systemic family therapy. Systems theory in its application to working
with families, when it does not address the different members'
differential access to power, is seen by some as fundamentally flawed
and potentially oppressive to women and children. This debate has
centred particularly on the use of systems theory in dealing with child
sexual abuse (MacLeod and Saraga, 1987). More seriously, Pilalis
and Anderton's criticism that 'family systemic therapy's weakness is
in its failure to address the links between the family system and the
social structure' (Pilalis and Anderton, 1986:104) limits opportunities
to incorporate ideas from socialist feminism in family therapy, which
would enable a systems approach to benefit all members of a family.
There have been important contributions to systems theory which
have tried to incorporate a social contextualisation (see Perelberg
and Miller, 1990; Burck and Speed, 1995) into practice.
Social work's knowledge base, in relation to theories and
methods, is evolving and changing over time, in response to criticism
and new contributions. It is essential that practitioners maintain a

flexible and critical approach. They must ensure that theories and
models are helpful and do not become a set of 'blinkers' which
create rigid and distorted impressions of social life's complexities.
Methods of social work intervention

Methods of intervention, and processes involved in social work
intervention, are intimately connected. For example, assessment is a
necessary stage in defining what method of intervention would be
most effective. If an assessment is made of a carer who is experi
encing isolation, consideration needs to be given as to whether an
individual approach would be most beneficial or whether the carer
would benefit from a group work approach, by being a member of a
carers' support group.
Methods of intervention would include individual work, indi
vidual counselling, family work, group work and community work.
Here these are described as methods of intervention which can be
seen as neutral. Different theories may be applied to each method in
its practical application. For example there can be very different
types of individual work according to the theoretical orientation of
the social worker, including psychodynamic individual work and
task-centred work.
Social work approaches include such areas as community social
work, feminist social work, radical social work, anti-racist approaches
and citizen involvement and empowerment. They may be oper
ationalised using a variety of methods drawing on diverse theoretical
models. They are often distinguished by the social and political value
base from which they draw.
Methods of social work intervention are informed by social
work theories and their corresponding models. A good example of
this is provided by Brown's models of group work: peer con
frontation, problem-solving, task-centred, psychotherapeutic, self�
help, human relations training and social goals (Brown, A. 1992).
These models draw on a variety of social work theories and
psychological ideas. The interrelationship of methods and theories
is complex.
Within social work, particular theoretical approaches have domi
nated certain methods of intervention at specific times. The postwar
period saw the predominance of psychodynamic theory within the
method of individual counselling. Family work currently relies
heavily on systems theory to engineer its direct intervention.
Social and political factors have been significant in the develop
ment of methods of intervention. Nowhere is this clearer than in the
area of community work, where there has always been and there
remains a debate between community development work and com

munity activism (Dominelli, 1 990; Ellis, 1 989; Smith, 1989; Vass,
1 979). In the former, the role of the community worker is to
facilitate the creation of groups and communities to empower and
help themselves; and in the latter the community worker takes on a
far more explicit role in linking local community issues to their
wider political contexts. Although the differences may have been
inflated and criticisms have been levelled against the claim that
community work can be politically active and effective within the
British social structure (Vass, 1 979), distinctions can still be drawn.
The differences can be illustrated by looking at responses to, for
example, racial harassment on a housing estate. The community
development approach might involve helping residents experiencing
harassment to organise a support group, to lessen feelings of
isolation. How the support group might develop would be deter
mined by its members. The community activist approach might
involve the same initial steps, but there would then be more
likelihood that the group would be directed towards making wider
links both in their understanding of the harassment and its rela
tionship to racism and in more proactive responses to it, informed
by a particular political understanding and where necessary direct
action to alter the structural context which breeds and feeds
oppression.
At times, different methods of social work intervention ' are
viewed in an exclusive manner. Agencies may be dominated by a
particular method of intervention, irrespective of the nature of their
referrals or the communities they serve. The most heavily relied on
method has been, and still is, individual work. The nature of the
referrals to social work agencies has meant that this has seemed the
most appropriate and effective method of intervention. However,
this is not always the case. Individual methods are often relied
upon because they are the ones the agency is most familiar with
providing and the methods that social workers are most comfort
able practising; in a sense they are the most convenient, without
regard to the needs of clients. This myopic approach may work
against the interests of clients, reinforcing their isolation and
feelings of disempowerment. As an illustration, the area social
services team that the author of this chapter managed had a very
high referral rate of single isolated people, who had periodic
psychiatric difficulties. Traditionally the approach in the team had
been to use individual work to support the person within the
community, working with other agencies and services to prevent
further hospitalisation. The community psychiatric nurses (CPNs)
in the area took the same approach and the two agencies liaised
closely with each other. It took the team some time to assess the
limitations of their methods of intervention. Although some of the
service users involved needed and benefited from individual
methods, they might also have benefited from group work as a
method of intervention. One social worker and a CPN were
involved in the setting up of a group for these service users,
starting as a problem-solving, task-centred group and developing
into a self-help group. Some members of the group continued to
need individual intervention, but the majority benefited from the
group processes which helped break down the isolation which was
often a contributory factor in individuals' mental health problems.
The White City Project, which was set up to work with women
experiencing depression, is an excellent example of how various
methods of intervention can be brought together to enable the best
possible outcome for users of a service (Holland, 1 990).
Different methods of intervention offer varied possibilities; they
all have their own benefits and limitations. It is important that
serious thought is given to which method or combination of
methods would be in the service users' interests.
Processes involved in social work intervention

Processes of social work intervention cover the area that is normally
referred to as social work skills involved in direct work with people.
This area is covered in Chapter 3. It appears briefly here because of
the close interrelationship of knowledge and skills. Practitioners
need to be familiar with the literature on skills and processes, as this
is a central aspect of the knowledge base of social work. 'Processes
involved in intervention' refers to the stages of engagement involved
in direct work, from referral through to evaluation and review.
Publications on community care offer helpful frameworks for
thinking about the processes of all social work intervention, not only
that relating to work with adults in need of services (Department of
Health, 1 99 1b; Smale et al., 1993).
Although the processes involved may differ to some extent,
depending on the method of social work intervention and the
context in which it takes place, there is a generic core of values
(Chapter 2), and skills (Chapter 3) that are essential, whatever the
context, to competent practice.
All three aspects - theories and their corresponding models,
methods of intervention, and the processes involved in intervention
- are the core of social work's knowledge base. However well social
workers understand a client's situation and experience, if they
cannot intervene in an informed and effective way they are of little
use.
Knowledge that clarifies the practitioners understanding of

the legal, policy, procedural and organisational context in
which their practice takes place
Social work does not operate in a vacuum: it is part of the complex

organisation of British society and the remaining structures of the
postwar welfare state. The roles and responsibilities of social work
are defined in a number of ways, but primarily through legislation
and related policies and procedures.
A working understanding of legislation, policies and procedures is
an essential component of the knowledge base of social work. It is
also the aspect of social work knowledge that practitioners often feel
most familiar with, particularly in relation to procedures. However,
it is this area that has often been highlighted in childcare inquiries as
the Achilles' heel of social work practice. Social workers have been
found to be ignorant of legislative and procedural structures or to
have misinterpreted and misused them (Department of Health,
1 99 1 b).
The use and understanding of law in social work practice is a
complex area, and one where there needs to be a close relationship
between knowledge and values. In most cases there are clear
guidelines for competent practice and the administration of law
particularly in childcare law, work with vulnerable adults, and
supervision of offenders. However, in view of the fact that social
work deals with difficult human issues, a rigid application of the law
divorced from other relevant considerations is inappropriate and as
an approach has drawn criticism (Butler-Sloss, 1 988). There needs to
be reflective consideration of the relationship between law and social
work, to enable practitioners to work competently in the interests of
their clients (Braye and Preston-Shoot, 1 990).
The legislation
Practitioners are often familiar with their own agencies' procedures
to facilitate the operation of some aspects of legislation, but remain
ignorant of the specific legislation itself. An example is the way
residential establishments for older people are referred to as Part III,
or assessments of older people are called Part III assessments. It is
not uncommon for social workers not to know that they are
referring to Part III of the National Assistance Act 1 948, which
refers to the local authority's duty to provide residential accom
modation to people who, by virtue of age, disability or other
circumstances, are considered to be in need of residential care.
As well as understanding that their intervention and service
delivery are directed by specific pieces of legislation, practitioners
need an understanding of the nature, sources and administration of

the law (Ball, 1 989). This involves knowledge of how legislation is
formulated, enacted and administered. In addition social workers
should be familiar with the jurisdiction of both criminal and civil
courts and the operations of these courts.
There are few social work contexts in which welfare rights and
housing advice work are not a significant part of a social worker's
workload. This means that practitioners must constantly update
their knowledge in these areas and be able to use appropriate
advisory agencies effectively.
At the present time social work intervention and service delivery
are organised into three broad categories that correspond to some
degree with three pieces of legislation. Probation work is directly
related to the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 ; work with children and
families relates to the Children Act 1989 and work with adults in
need of support is covered primarily by the National Health Service
and Community Care Act 1 990. However, practice is not so simple.
For example, adoption, although it has received attention in a White
Paper (Department of Health, 1 993c), still involves a complex range
of laws and directives including the Adoption Act 1 976; Adoption
Rules 1 984, the Adoption Agency Regulations 1 983 and the
Adoption (Amendment) Rules 1 99 1 . Social workers have to relate to
Acts of Parliament or statutory rules which are constantly being
amended, often on the basis of ideological shifts in government
policy (for example the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1 994
subverts many of the intentions of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 by
questioning the capacity of community penalties to reform and
control offenders).
This degree of complexity, which even lawyers find daunting, does
not mean that social workers have to act as well-informed and
trained specialist solicitors. This would not be desirable or possible.
Rather the complexity points to the need for social workers to have
a basic working knowledge of relevant legislation and to be on
guard for changes in legal requirements and procedures in order to
form a reliable body of knowledge that informs and guides, as far as
professionally possible, their actions and the advice and guidance
they give to service users. It is not possible for social workers to rely
on their past knowledge. Past knowledge in legal terms may also
mean 'outdated knowledge', and thus be dangerous. Social workers
have a professional and moral duty constantly to familiarise
themselves with the wider legal and political context of their work.
This means updating their knowledge of the most recent legislation
relevant to their tasks and duties, and pursuing, where necessary,
'refresher' courses (whether in-service or externally) to ensure that
they keep in close touch with developments. Although the burden

for this lies on the shoulders of every social worker, and failure or
ignorance on their part is not excusable, this heavy responsibility is
shared by their employers and trainers, who should offer
opportunities for their staff to pursue such good practice. In many
respects the failures and serious mistakes made by social workers, as
identified in childcare inquiries, have much to do with both personal
(social worker) and organisational (employer) failures to realise the
need for regular training and familiarity with the legislation,
procedures, and the roles of and powers vested in social workers.
CCETSW emphasises the importance of contextualising specific
pieces of legislation to help the practitioner make sense of their
relevance and use (Ball et al., 1 991). The structure of this book
reflects this, in as much as the legislation is placed in the context of
particular areas of practice in the following chapters. Legislation
and amendments to legislation is an interactive process which
evolves through social policy initiatives and social, economic and
political activity. Without referring to specific legislation it is
possible to draw out some general points about social work's use of
legal knowledge. First, there has to be a close relationship between
values and knowledge. Social workers when carrying out their legal
duties are involved in serious considerations of risk, restriction of
liberty and removal. This necessitates the consideration of matters
including discrimination, self-determination, empowerment and
natural justice, to name but a few, if a practitioner is to invoke the
law in an informed and constructive manner. Secondly, the prac
titioner needs to understand the social policy context of the
legislation to appreciate its spirit and principles. Thirdly, statutes
themselves are practically incomprehensible to anyone but a lawyer.
White Papers, guidance and regulations relating to relevant
legislation are both intelligible to non-lawyers and invaluable to
social workers in facilitating an understanding of the legislation and
clarifying its relevance to their practice. Fourthly, given that there
are currently over fifty-one laws relevant to social work's roles and
responsibilities (Ball et al., 1 99 1 :45), it is not realistic that prac
titioners should be acquainted with legislation other than that
impacting on their work directly. Fifthly, social workers are not
lawyers. There must be an effective working relationship between
social workers and their legal departments or legal advisers. For this
to be realised, they need a formal knowledge of the legal system and
an informal knowledge of their own procedures for access to legal
advice. Sixthly, competent practice in relation to the law means
there needs to be competence in all three areas of knowledge, values
and skills. For example, competence in court is essential, requiring a
degree of confidence in the skills of giving evidence effectively, and

knowledge of how courts function at both a fonnal and an infonnal
level. Lastly, since legislation defines the roles and responsibilities of
social work and the boundaries of welfare provision, this knowledge
is essential for practitioners in whatever context their practice takes
place.
Policy and procedures

Although we are governed by the same laws, whether we practise in
Dolgellau or Islington, because law can be either mandatory or
pennissive, how it is interpreted in different settings varies. The
complex relationship between local and central government means
that varying emphasis is placed on laws by local authorities at
different times. A Labour-controlled local authority might have
difficulty implementing law that it sees as repressive and that has
been enacted by a Conservative central government. This has been
illustrated very clearly in the case of Section 28 of the Local
Government Act 1 988. Another example is the variety of ways
assessment and care management have been arranged in different
local authorities under the National Health Service and Community
Care Act 1990 (Department of Health, 1 993a). These variations
necessitate a working knowledge of local government and its
relationship to social work, and this has to be a component of the
knowledge base of social work (Daniel and Wheeler, 1 989).
Familiarity with the law, White Papers, guidance and regulation
documents is essential for competent practice, but there are Depart
ment of Health, Home Office and Social Service Inspectorate publi
cations that social workers need to keep pace with as well, as they
are directly relevant to their work. Some social work agencies are
systematic in their use of such documents. Probation officers, for
example, will be familiar with National Standards (Home Office et
al., 1 992; 1 995), as approved social workers are with the mental
health Code of Practice (Department of Health, 1993b). However,
regular reference to relevant texts of this nature is not unifonn
within social work.
Social work agencies are as complex organisations as the social
issues they represent. Social workers, as well as having a working
understanding of the law, legal guidance and processes, have the
additional responsibility of gaining a knowledge of their own
agency. This involves a practical knowledge of the agency's struc
ture, how it is managed, and how the individual worker fits within
the organisation; policies and procedures relevant to the social
worker's context; roles and responsibilities; relationships to other
relevant agencies and their operations, in tenns of their structures,
The Know/edge Base of Social Work 29
policies, procedures, provisions and personnel. This includes a

working knowledge of agencies such as benefit agencies and housing
departments, both essential to most social work practice. Lastly,
they require knowledge of the day-to-day functioning of the agency,
in order to operate efficiently and effectively.
Policies and procedures have often been developed within agencies
to guarantee that standards of practice and provision do not fall
below an acceptable level. In the same way that rigid application of
the law has attracted criticism, so must we beware mindless
following of agency procedures without full consideration of the
circumstances of each unique situation.
Much of the knowledge outlined in this section will not be
available in books, but will involve the practitioner in a proactive
search to find out about their own work context. This is part of the
bedrock of social work knowledge, and a very relevant part of
competent practice.
Organisational contexts
Social work as a profession has always had some difficulty in
defining exactly what it is, and indeed also in saying very succinctly
what it does. This is not surprising, given the varied contexts in
which it is expected to discharge its tasks and duties. It will only be
possible to define what social work is in the particular context in
which it takes place. Most social workers are primarily employees,
which places them as professionals in a slightly different position
than some other professional groups. The roles, tasks and responsi
bilities of social workers are often defined by the context in which
they are employed, rather than being universally applicable to the
profession as a whole.
The probation service, social services departments, hospitals,
general practitioner surgeries, refugee organisations, psychother
apeutic communities, housing associations, community work settle
ments, self-help organisations, needle-exchange centres, adoption and
fostering organisations, residential units, prisons, resource centres
and community group homes are just a tiny selection of organis
ational contexts in which social work takes place. Practitioners must
have a knowledge of their own agency's history, its remit, powers and
functions, whether these are dictated by legislation or not, and how
their agency fits within the . overall picture of welfare provision.
Organisations have a habit of restructuring themselves from time
to time. Social services reorganisation has become rather more than
a habit. Restructuring of social work agencies has not always been
either necessary in response to changing legislation or to do with
bettering outcomes for service users. Changes are often instigated on
political grounds and in an attempt to manage growing demands

and the resulting increase in anxiety (Brown and Pearce, 1992).
Practitioners, to remain useful, need to have an understanding of
organisational change, its causes, and strategies for survival.
Social work finds itself in uncertain times, with individual workers
and their agencies having to manage an unprecedented degree of
imposed changes. Some of these changes have been of great benefit,
but have necessitated a fresh analysis of social work's future. The
decreasing size of the statutory sector and the increasing role of the
voluntary and independent service provider sector (with fewer
resources), has meant that much assumed knowledge about
organisations' roles and functions has to be rethought. This requires
an awareness of current changes that may impact on the functions
of practitioners within agencies. Social workers must understand
their new role and position in the social structure of their agency as
well as society, and at the same time work out how they can adjust
and adapt themselves and their practices to the changes.
Concl�on: competence and knowledge
Despite the multi-faceted nature of social work with all its varied
responsibilities and tasks, sometimes seemingly unrelated, it is still
possible to define what practitioners in a generic sense need as part
of their knowledge base. Whatever the setting, practitioners need the
three components of knowledge outlined in this chapter to work
efficiently: knowledge that informs the practitioner about the client's
experience and context; knowledge that helps the practitioner plan
appropriate intervention; and knowledge that clarifies the prac
titioner's understanding of the legal, policy, procedural and organis
ational context in which their practice takes place. Knowledge is
only one aspect of competence; values and skills are also essential.
For knowledge to be useful to practice, there needs to be a solid
integration of all three.
'Knowledge must be treated as a constant, dynamic process of being.

That is to say, it is evolutionary. It has a social career of its own. It is
constantly expanded, defined, and redefined according to changes in the
sociopolitical, moral and economic characteristics of a particular society
during a particular period by particular governments and by particular
individuals and groups. In that form, knowledge is a constant companion
that has to be negotiated, accommodated and transcended to deal with
new situations. Social workers must treat knowledge as a transactional
process. Social life and problems in social relationships (which are the
subject matter of social work) are not static. They are ever changing.'
(Vass, 1987)
The Knowledge Base oj Social Work 31
Social work knowledge must be seen in the same way: as a

constantly evolving core of ideas which are translated into praxis by
flexible, competent and reflective practitioners.
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2
The Values of Social Work
the basic assumption is that there is no value-free way of working in the

welfare state, or indeed of living one's life, and that a person entrusted to
some extent with other people's lives has obligations both to know his or
her own values and their significance in action, and to be able to
understand some of the forces in society that deeply and dramatically
affect values in general. (Hardy, 1981: vii)
Ten years later, the Central Council for the Education and Training
of Social Workers (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a: 1 5) argued thus:
competence in social work practice requires the understanding and

integration of the values of social work.
This continuing emphasis on values reflects concern from individuals

and government-sponsored bodies to identify the core values that
underpin social work practice (Clark and Asquith, 1 985: 1 ).
For social work practice to work with its dual mandate, delivering
care while exercising control, individual practitioners must accom
modate central social work values to guide their professional
judgement. Core contradictions can exist in the aim to deliver a non
oppressive, empowering practice while simultaneously defining and
controlling socially unacceptable behaviour: where the role of the
social worker fluctuates between defending society's values to
defending the client against the oppressive dominant values which
undermine individual choice and liberty (Cypher, 1975; Brown,
1 992; Dominelli, 1 988: 1 2 1 ).
But what are social work values and how do they affect com
petences in social work practice? In this chapter we address these
two questions first by placing the discussion of values within the
context of the present political climate. Secondly, we examine the
increasing awareness of the importance of a critical examination of
social work values. Such analysis shows that 'values' have been on
the social work agenda since the 1890s. Recognising the integral
relationship between theory and practice as it changes through
history provides scope for an analysis of praxis. This comprises both
reflection and action which helps to prevent theory from being
divorced from actual events. It is through such analysis that we can
The Values of Social Work 37
recognise the way that values are embedded in a fluid and changing
social work practice.
Thirdly, we draw on definitions of core values to social work
practice, referring to the characteristics of demonstrated values by
addressing specific terms such as 'freedom of and respect for the
individual', 'self-determination', 'freedom from oppression and nega
tive discrimination' (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a: 1 5), or as described in the
amended requirements: 'identify, analyse and take action to counter
discrimination, racism, disadvantage, inequality and injustice'
(CCETSW, 1995:4). The application of these values in practice
places the power relationships between practitioner and client as
central concerns in social work intervention. The multi-faceted nature
of social work and relevant legislation is addressed to illustrate how
the roles and tasks facing social work practitioners create different
moral conflicts. While defined values exist as absolute truths, their
application in practice must recognise the diverse and specific
circumstances of individual experience.
Finally, we conclude by stressing the importance of the social
worker's awareness of self: the ontological nature of personal values
and their effect on professional judgements. Through working
towards knowing and owning fears, aspirations and values, indi
vidual workers can extend the systemic analysis of power between
individuals to make connections between themselves, their pro
fession and the local community they serve (Conn and Turner,
1 990).
The political context of social work values

The plethora of definitions of 'traditional values' that followed the
call for 'back to basics' from the Conservative Party during 1993
highlights the difficulty inherent in asserting commonly shared, core
values across a fragmented and divided society. The neo-liberal
consumer-led politics of the 1 990s which places importance on the
strength and survival of the individual is prevalent throughout much
of contemporary British society. The plea for 'back to basics' from
the present Right is asserting a contradictory voice in the consumer
led wilderness for some sense of moral standards, some value
distinction between right and wrong to exist while individuals battle
for economic survival. Such pleas have been reinforced by the
genuine despair caused by a number of recent cases, often involving
children who personify a future society where moral rules and social
values have been destroyed. The 'joy riders" threatening and chal
lenging behaviour (Campbell, 1993) and the shock of the unimagin
able behaviour in the James Bulger case are but two examples which
raise questions of where the family, school, Church and state have
responsibility in distinguishing between acceptable and unaccep
table behaviour. Although work by Pearson (1983) shows us that
the 'good old days' were not such a safe haven of goodwill, and
Vass (1986) shows us that moral panics occur at regular intervals
throughout the course of history, there are specific ramifications of
these concerns in the 1 990s. The onus on instilling individual
responsibility within the adult population ranges from the emphasis
placed by business schools on 'ethics in business', to the suggestion
that the state invest £2. 1 million in leafleting households in a
desperate attempt to inform adults of their tasks and responsi
bilities in child-rearing (Meikle, 1 994:3). Contemporary politics
mourns the demise of the socially responsible individual and looks
to a revival of values of the past to rectify the apparent present
morass.
While the Right attempts to assert some order through its plea for
'back to basics', the Left questions the 'master narratives' that have
underpinned the moral truths and values of the past. For example,
the relevance of historically located values, embedded within the
traditional working class, to the technological workforce of the
1 990s is questioned. Similarly, the value base of established
representative political movements has been seen to exclude specific
individuals. The socialist movement has been seen to focus on the
white male worker (Rowbotham et aI., 1 979), while the feminist
movement has failed to accommodate the multi-faceted nature of
discriminatory politics that separates black women, lesbians, older
women and women with disabilities from each other (Langan and
Day, 1 992; Spelman, 1 988). Developing sociological theory recog
nises this fragmentation by placing importance on the ontological
prefiguration of self in a diverse political arena. Emphasis is now
being placed on the way that individuals define themselves and their
relationship to representative political movements (probyn, 1993;
Foucault, 1 99 1 ; Seidler, 1 99 1 :65; Yelloly, 1 993). The central, assumed
universal values of the Left as a representative party are being
attacked. Both the individualistic, right-wing consumerism and the
left-wing postmodernism threaten the myth of the stability of
previously accepted values (Mercer, 1990).
Despite this, there is a strong body of theory outlining social
work's commitment to commonly held values (Clark and Asquith,
1 985; CCETSW, 1991a, 1995; Payne, 1 99 1 ; Peacock and Collins,
1 989; Shardlow, 1 989). Within the increasingly articulated social
turmoil of the 1 990s, progressive moves have been made to assert
basic values that underpin social work practice. According to the
Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work
(CCETSW, 1 99 I a: 1 5; see also CCETSW, 1 995) qualifying social

workers should have a commitment to the following aspirations:
- the value and dignity of individuals;
- the right to respect, privacy and confidentiality;
- the right of individuals and families to choose;
- the strengths and skills embedded in local communities.
Recent legislation has incorporated such objectives. For example,

the Children Act 1 989 requires that consideration be taken of
individual need and circumstance: the child and those with parental
responsibility must be given full opportunity to be involved in
decision-making processes (Home Office, 1 99 1 : 1). Regard is to be
given to the child's racial and cultural needs and to the strengths of
extended family and community networks (Children Act 1 989:
schedule 2 para. I I). Community Care legislation (National Health
Service and Community Care Act 1 9 90) has the central premise that
the strengths of the local community be respected, and that people
have the right to be cared for within their own community; The
Criminal Justice Act 1991 notes the need to avoid discrimination on
the grounds of race, sex or any other improper ground (Criminal
Justice Act 1 99 1 : schedule 95 (1) (b)). Although social work does not
occur in isolation from the political, geographical and economic
climate, it has maintained a professional momentum which defines
and asserts values central to its role in the delivery of competent
practice.
We discuss below the origins of these values, which have devel
oped through a political and historical process. We then move to
look at the complexities of applying them to a social work practice
which recognises the needs of the individual within a diverse and
competing society.
The historical context of values in social work
To place the current situation in context it is helpful to explore the

origins of social work values in theory and in practice.
It is no coincidence that the present call for a return to traditional
values is accompanied both by a reduction in state resources for
social work practice and by a proliferation of the number of
charitable organisations working in the caring sector. Harker
(1992: 1 92) shows how the income of charitable organisations has
dramatically increased over the last decade, while others express
concern that some of them are being asked to plug the gaps left by
changes and diminutions in government funding (Carter et al.,
1 992). This emphasis on the role of charitable organisations
coincides with the promotion of the nuclear family as provider for

individual need. The recent newsworthy scapegoating of single
mothers as scroungers on state resources causing the fragmentation
of the nuclear family (Moore, 1 993) shows a desperate attempt to
isolate the demise of traditional nuclear family values as the cause
of all society's ills. Such work detracts attention from the well
researched issues of poverty and poor health experienced by a range
of family groups throughout the country: issues which highlight the
stress on individuals and households in their attempts to sustain
health and well-being without having to become dependent upon
diminishing state resources (Blackburn, 1991; Glendinning and
Millar, 1 992).
Self-reliance and self-determination were originally promoted
through charitable acts as opposed to state intervention. The role of
the voluntary, charitable organisation was advanced in the late
1 800s. As Woodroofe (1 962: 32) observes: 'true charity administered
according to certain principles could encourage independence,
strengthen character and help to preserve the family as the funda
mental unit of society'. Charitable relief was to enhance inde
pendence and strength of character. This became overt with the
advent of the industrial revolution, which appeared to be creating a
divided society: the upper and middle classes gaining financial
benefit from the industrial developments while large fragments of
the working class lived in increasing poverty and 'outside the
prosperity and political pale' (Woodroofe, 1 962:6).
Voicing concern for the welfare of the individual in the midst of
increasing poverty, General William Booth made a plea for the
dignity and autonomy of the individual by advocating the extension
of the Cab Horse charter. 'When a horse is down it be helped up,
when it lives it has food, shelter and work' (Booth, 1 890: 1 8). Booth
asked for respect and dignity to be extended to all people. He
argued that many were denied this right. Laying the foundation for
Beveridge to claim that 'want' was needless (Beveridge, 1 942), Booth
reflected the middle-class consciousness which spurred the philan
thropic foundation of the Charity Organisation Society (COS) in
1 869. The COS, representing some 640 institutions from London
alone, regulated the expenditure of relief to the poor, while it aimed
to increase the moral structure of the individual and society. It was
believed that charity, administered according to certain principles,
could 'encourage independence, strengthen character and help to
preserve the family as the fundamental unit of society' (Woodroofe,
1 962: 32).
The conflict between the role of the state and charitable organis
ations became identified by an increasing awareness of poverty as a
measurable concern defined by the Poor Laws (1 834). This conflict

spurred debate about the value and purpose of relief from the state
to the poor, a relief which many felt inhibited the development of
personal autonomy and voluntary action. The conflict was addressed
in Beveridge's clarification of the roles and tasks of state inter
vention (Beveridge, 1 942).
Critical analysis of covert values: radical social work within

the liberal democracy
Radical social work of the postwar era made an essential connection
between the donation of financial relief and the building of 'moral'
character, making it clear that relief had hitherto rarely been
delivered at random. It was argued that the values of middle-class
life were being taught to the poor, who were categorised as either
deserving or undeserving of future support (Bailey and Brake,
1 975: 5). The radical social work tradition challenged this polaris
ation of the 'undeserving' against the deserving poor, and the
subsequent discrepancies in the provision of financial support. They
argued that the individual's good health and welfare was being
maintained not for humanitarian reasons but because it was
essential to the survival of the liberal democracy: as the industrial
revolution needed a healthy and compliant workforce, the social
structure responded by promoting shared values to create social
solidarity. The liberal democracy promoted its well-being through
calming and containing group political unrest: angry or disaffected
workers were isolated from each other through the advent of
individualised casework, enhanced by the promotion of psycho
analytical theories in the 1970s (Bailey and Brake, 1 975:4-8).
According to Bailey and Brake (1 975:6): 'Social problems became
individualised, and the profession became immersed in an ideology
which devalued political action.'
This critical perspective advanced by the radical social work
tradition challenged philanthropic middle-class values. Scope was
identified for social work practice to become part of a revolutionary
mechanism for bringing about social change by advancing the
interests of an oppressed working class.
This emphasis draws on theories of praxis which have their routes
in Hegelian theory interpreted by Marxists such as Lukacs (1 971).
These theories argue that the dominant values and ideologies
become internalised by individuals, who then develop a false con
sciousness of their value within society, a value determined by their
status as workers within the labour market. The inherent internal
frictions for the individual provide scope for what Mannheim (1948)
argued to be an objective mind: individuals develop awareness of
their relationship to the capitalist society. Radical social work saw

the potential for social work to enhance individuals' awareness of
their intemalisation of the dominant values of the state. Instead
of charitable donations pacifying the disaffected by extending
dominant, middle-class values, radical social work argued that state
resources could be used to empower individuals to recognise the
potential for change.
Dismissed as romantic idealism by some (Davies, 1 985: 3- 1 5),
such an approach introduces a critical analysis of the covert values
of social work practice. It asks for the individual situated in oppo
sition to the dominant ideology to be identified not as a problem,
but as the locus within which inherent contradictions that exist
throughout society are enacted. Without such recognition, the
individual challenging covert values is open to being labelled as a
deviant or a delinquent. For example, as Gilroy ( 1987: 1 1) suggests,
'the idea that blacks comprise a problem, or more accurately a series
of problems, is today expressed at the core of racist reasoning'.
As the core nature of oppression is its capacity to establish
'deviant' or 'problematic' individuals or groups falling outside the
reasoning of the dominant value base as alien entities, we realise the
importance of identifying the values behind practice. It is through
the attempt to identify and reveal hidden value assumptions that a
non-judgmental service can evolve. The radical social work tradition
criticised the emergence of psychodynamic therapeutic interventions
with the individual which emerged during the 1 970s. It argued that
the dominant middle-class value base of such practice remained
unquestioned. Individual clients were seen to be pathologised,
separated and isolated from their collective working-class roots.
Such debate fed into an increasingly critical analysis of the role for
psychodynamic theory within social work practice at the time
(pearson et aI., 1 988).
However, critics of the radical social work tradition argued that
the rights of the individual could be overlooked through an analysis
which assumed groups of individuals to share common properties.
The assumption that middle and working class individuals shared
common values, and that the casework approach with the individual
could not provide the arena for empowerment to take place, was
questioned. Enhanced by the feminist, anti-racist and other move
ments of the 1 970s, differences within class categories were exposed
(Cheetham, 1 98 1 ; Dominelli, 1 988). While such political movements
were informed by and contributed to the radical social work
tradition, there was a concurrent emphasis on addressing the
interface between forms of oppression.
More recent sociological and social work theory extended this
analysis to recognise diversity of individual need. For example, the

increasing awareness of culture and ethnicity during the 1 970s and
1 980s invariably isolated culture as the central dimension to the
client and worker encounter. The individual client, however, may
identify 'culture' as only one of many multi-faceted and inter
connected dimensions of themselves. Similarly, the needs and
interests of individual gays or lesbians were grouped together into a
common identity. Homophobic society located sexual behaviour as
the defining characteristic of identity, but, as argued by Brown,
'reality, not surprisingly, is more complex' (1 992:202). The ability of
individual lesbians to parent successfully has been tainted by a
number of prejudiced myths. Despite psychiatric and psychological
research disproving the myths, Brown (1 992:214) notes the need for
an improvement in service which requires social workers to 'assess
those individuals and their unique situation, and not rely on
prejudiced assumptions'.
Valuing the individual

This more recent emphasis on the difference and diversity of
individual experience echoes a client-centred practice which starts
from 'where the client is at'. The client-centred approach asks that
the individual be respected as a human being, with specific needs
and interests that cannot be generalised or assumed (payne,
1 99 1 :24).
It was Beistek's work which aimed to separate the individual as a
human being worthy of respect from his or her actions (Beistek,
1 965). The need for respect for the individual, enhanced by humanist
and existential models of social psychology (Rogers, 1 9 5 1 , 1 9 6 1 ;
Maslow, 1 970), informed the development of individual client
centred counselling work. Roger's development of the client, or
'person-centred' therapy assumed that workers are 'genuine and
congruent', can display 'unconditional positive regard' for their
clients and can 'empathise' with the clients' view of the world (payne,
1 99 1 : 1 69-70).
Incorporating theory from the client-centred approach, arguments
for an anti-discriminatory practice have claimed that differences
between clients must be recognised and acknowledged. This presents
a direct challenge to practitioners who may feel inclined to make
assumptions about an individual because of their race, sex, sexual
orientation, class, age or ability. For Payne ( 1 99 1 :24), individualism
is therefore 'not only an important value, it is significant for
technical reasons'.
Individualism respects the scope for clients to take responsibility
for their actions. Recognising and owning a problem as yours makes
it become easier to take self-determined steps to address it. Instead

of only being told what the problem looks like to others, the client
identifies what the problem looks like to himselflherself. This aims to
engage clients in actively identifying and addressing their behaviour.
The complex forms of power-sharing and self-exploration that
emerge from attempts to peel away assumption and myth are
explored in much of the more recent literature on power and
empowerment (Ward and Mullender, 1 99 1 ; Page, 1 992).
The CCETSW strategy

A number of developments contributed to the issues raised above
being addressed by the Central Council for Education and Training
(CCETSW) during the late 1980s and early 1990s. First, the
increasing awareness of the need for practice to challenge negative
discrimination was made overt (Ahmed et aI., 1986; Oliver, 1990;
Dominelli, 1988; Dominelli and McLeod, 1989). Secondly, concerns
around social work competences within the field of child protection
were prompted by the range of child abuse inquiries since 1974
(Department of Health, 1 99 1 a). Finally, the development of the
Diploma in Social Work and of the accreditation of pre- and post
qualifying courses demanded that core values be clearly articulated
and explained. The subsequent CCETSW strategy included publi
cation of a number of documents which provided guidelines for
social work training and practice, outlining core knowledge, skills
and values. CCETSW Paper 30 (CCETSW, 199 1 a) was accom
panied by a number of publications in the 'Improving Social Work
Education and Training' series, which consider a range of models of
good practice. Common to all is the recognition that good,
competent practice is reflected in workers' analysis of both the
covert and overt assumptions of political categories, of their own
personal and professional relationship to these categories, and of the
specific needs and interests of the individual client. This is reflected
in the CCETSW statement (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a: 1 5) that social work
values reflect 'a commitment to social justice and social welfare, to
enhancing the quality of life of individuals, families and groups
within communities, and to a repudiation of all forms of negative
discrimination' (see also CCETSW, 1 995:4).
Social work values in practice

In this section we apply social work values as identified by CCETSW
to social work practice. Notwithstanding criticisms levelled at
attempts to produce exhaustive lists of 'values' which will inevitably
exclude some important considerations such as 'flexibility' and
'blame' (Timms and Timms, 1977:183), there are specific core values
which form the basis of the development of competent practice.
First we explore the rights attributed to the individual, con
sidering implications for childcare practice in general, and for
working within current childcare legislation (Children Act 1989) in
particular. Secondly, we look at the value placed on the strengths,
skills and expertise within the local community of which the
individual is a part. With this in mind we consider 'participation and
self-help' as values respected within community care legislation
(National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990). Thirdly,
we address the role of the social worker in demonstrating a com
mitment to social justice and social welfare through an analysis of
the nature of social work with offenders under the Criminal Justice
Act 1991, with 1993 amendments.
We argue throughout this book that while absolute values can be
used as a premise for the development of practice, the strength of
social work practice is in the identification and challenge of various
forms of negative discrimination, and in the acknowledgement of
difference and diversity between the needs and interests of individual
clients.
The social work values outlined below are transferable across
different forms of practice. While they are described in relation to
specific legislation and areas of practice, they are applicable to
different forms of social work intervention with a range of client
groups.
The rights of the individual: with specific reference to

childcare
Value is placed on the dignity of individuals, their right to respect,
privacy and confidentiality, their right to protection from abuse,
exploitation and violence. Individuals and their family have a right
to choose, while the strengths and skills of local communities are to
be respected (CCETSW, 1991a:15).
The right to freedom from harm or abuse

A core value of social work theory and practice is the expectation
that the individual has a right to freedom from harm or abuse. This
right also extends to the protection of others, the community in
general, from the individual's or group's hannful behaviour. With
regard to the individual, it encompasses the expectation that those in
positions of authority - parents, carers and professional workers -
will not abuse the power invested in them (Department of Health,
1991b; CCETSW, 1991a, 1991b, 1991c).
With respect to childcare this applies to ensuring that the child's
needs and wishes are respected and that his/her welfare is considered
to be of paramount importance (Children Act 1989: section 1 (1» .
The complexities around the triangular relationship of child, carer
and professional are revealed in the context of 'partnership'
(Macdonald, 1 991). This requires the views and circumstances of the
client to be considered and respected, with an awareness of power
differentials between client and worker. Lessons from two inquiries
into child protection, the Beckford and Cleveland inquiries (London
Borough of Brent, 1 985; Department of Health and Social Security,
1 988, respectively) give practical illustrations of the damage caused
when parents, carers or social work agencies abuse the power
entrusted in them. The concern in the Beckford case was that the
parents' abuse of power against the child was not challenged
by statutory authorities; and concern from the Cleveland case
was that the relevant professional agencies abused their power by
failing to respect the parents' right to information and consultation
(Department of Health and Social Security, 1988). These two brief
examples help to emphasise the complexities involved when using
authority, entrusted to the worker, to ensure that the child's right to
'good enough' parenting is protected (CCETSW, 1991d:32).
Central to the existence of the right to protection is the main
tenance of accountable and recorded communication between those
involved. Although in situations of conflict of interest between
parent and child, the child's interest must be given first consideration
(Department of Health, 1 991b:9; Children Act 1989: section 1 (1» ,
parents have the right to 'an open and honest approach'; the right to
have their 'own views sought'; the right to have the scope to
'challenge information held on them and decisions taken that affect
them'; the right to 'careful assessment'; and the right to have the
workers' statutory duties explained to them (Department of Health,
1 99 1b:9, 1 1). The Department of Health and Social Security's report
(1 988) of the Inquiry into Child Abuse in Cleveland illustrates the
pitfalls in not upholding these values. It demonstrates how legal
proceedings were advanced without due consideration of the merits
of each case, and without a proper recognition of parental rights as
outlined above (payne, 1 99 1 :25).
Adults should have their rights respected, but valuing the indi
vidual does not mean condoning all and any behaviour (CCETSW,
1 99 1d:92-3). The worker reserves hislher statutory duty to protect
the child from significant harm (Children Act 1 989: section 3 1). It is
essential that assessment must continue to be 'promoting the safety
and well being of the child' (Department of Health, 1 991b: 1 3). The
potential for 'dangerousness' arises, therefore, from within the
family, the local community and the professional bodies.
The right to respect for the family and the community

A central component of 'valuing the individual' is recognising the
individual in relation to their family and community, and in
challenging oppressive assumptions arising from stereotypical
categorisations of both. Hudson (1 992: 145) argues that a 'funda
mental error' of the Cleveland inquiry was in 'subsuming parents in
one catch-all category; both the inquiry and much press coverage of
child sexual issues has failed to differentiate between mothers and
fathers'.
Appreciating power dynamics within families, and recognising the
potential for all family members to act as carers are values
advocated by CCETSW and reflected in relevant legislation. The
lack of power of many mothers and other females within the family
structure is to be acknowledged (CCETSW, 199I d:32), with section
8 orders of the Children Act 1 989 intending to encourage adults
involved to maintain contact where appropriate and possible. Such
emphasis values the continuity of significant relationships in the
development of good practice. Hudson argues that the Cleveland
inquiry placed an almost 'obsessive' emphasis on diagnosis and
procedure, and subsequently failed to comment on the ingredients
of 'good practice' after a disclosure had been made (Hudson,
1 992: 140). Good practice accommodates the potential for the wider
family networks and support within the community to be used when
decisions are to be made with and about the child (CCETSW,
1991d:40; Children Act 1989: section 5(6» . The use of the extended
family networks and of the local community coincides with the
legislative requirement that only 'positive intervention' is to be made
(Children Act 1 989: section 1 (5» , a requirement which aims to help
children and young people identify positive factors about their
families wherever possible (CCETSW, 1 99 I d:21 , 32). Such legis
lation is welcome when it is enforced alongside the core value of
respect for the cultural and racial context of the family within the
community, and acknowledgement of diversity and difference within
and between family structure. Practitioners should be prepared to
recruit single men and women, gay and lesbian couples and people
with disabilities and to assess their ability to parent. Hudson (1992)
highlights central concerns of how 'race' and 'homosexuality' are
invariably referred to with damaging generalised assumptions. She
addresses the detrimental effects this has in the charged moments of
the effort to protect the rights of children and parents. Such work
argues that the rights of the individual and family should be
respected in order to maintain the welfare of the child. Prejudiced
value assumptions must be identified and addressed to ensure that
the protection of child and adult is maintained.
Individual right to confidentiality

The family and community are to be respected for the resources
each holds for the development of good enough practice. A central
task in maintaining respect is establishing and maintaining clearly
defined boundaries between worker and client. In order to maintain
such boundaries, value must be placed on the client's right to
confidentiality. While the client is entitled to respect, privacy and
confidentiality (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a: 1 5; 1 995:4) the social worker also
holds ultimate responsibility for ensuring that information is acted
on to give 'protection to those at risk of abuse and exploitation and
violence to themselves and others' (CCETSW, 1 99 I a: 1 6). Relevant
information must neither be shared around too liberally nor
withheld, leaving a vulnerable client in danger. The essential
development of good practice suggests that the client and worker
clarify the codes of practice around confidentiality (Department of
Health, 1 99 1 b: l l ); that the client is informed of the procedures that
follow a disclosure, and is consulted during subsequent action.
Ensuring that this process takes place requires clearly defined
boundaries to exist between worker and client. The often genuine
desire to become 'friendly' with the client and to identify shared life
experiences can have adverse effects as boundaries are merged.
Good supervision will ensure that it is the client's needs which are
being identified and met, not the social worker's (Simmonds, 1 988).
Appropriate practice: participation, accountability and

accessibility with specific reference to community care
While the above has addressed the rights of the individual with
reference to childcare practice, it must be stressed that such rights
are transferable across the range of practice contexts. The case
above highlights some of the basic rights of the individual in the
development of appropriate practice. Central to this is the recog
nition of the systemic relationship between the individual within the
family, and the family within the community. The emphasis on an
accountable, accessible and appropriate practice is a mainstay of the
Griffiths Report (Griffiths, 1 988), and the Department of Health
White Paper (Department of Health, 1 989). In this section we
address the value placed on self-help and client participation as it
pertains to the development of care in the community. At the cost of
labouring the same point, while reference is made to work with
adults with specific needs (see also Chapter 5), such values are
similarly transferable across the range of contexts for social work
practice.
The scope to provide appropriate services run in and by the
community is the premise for community care legislation which
stresses commitment to people being cared for by their family at

home, or in a 'homely environment' (Langan, 1990:58). The indi
vidual is enabled to achieve greater choice by the encouragement of
'active participation' on the part of both the carer and the cared for
(Department of Health, 1 989 quoted in Biehal, 1993:443). This is
closely aligned with the core values of social work outlined by
CCETSW, which stress the need for a commitment to both the
strengths and the skills embodied in local communities, and to the
right of individuals and families to choose (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a: 1 5).
The capacity for individual choice and participation in decision
making has been seen to be undermined through institutional care.
Although codes of practice for residential care have invariably
echoed core values outlined by CCETSW, I studies of powerlessness
within institutions have demonstrated how the scope for individual
autonomy and choice is undermined by the rituals, regimes and
disciplines of the institution (Goffman, 1 968; Foucault, 1 979;
Trevillion, 1 992) and by the interaction between different institutions
involved in the delivery of care. The postwar decline in popularity of
institutional care is clearly depicted by Langan, who refers to a
sequence of government reports and White Papers in the 1 960s and
1 970s which echoed a consensus in favour of community care by
many service users (Langan, 1 990:60).2
The emphasis on community care within the National Health
Service and Community Care Act 1990 has stressed the increased
scope for practitioners to be accountable to the client and com
munity they serve. Such accountability cannot be achieved, however,
by the worker alone: community resources must be made available.
Despite the enthusiasm for Care in the Community, its achievements
in practice have not been without criticism. For example, the
premature closure of hospitals under the mental hospital closure
programme has been criticised for not allowing time for due
consideration of the availability of alternative resources to meet
individual need (Jones, 1 989). The tragic events resulting from
people returning to the community without due consideration being
given to their needs illustrates the severe practical implications when
core values, such as respecting and assessing individual need, are
ignored (Langan, 1 990). The concept of 'dangerousness' referred to
earlier returns here, as a specific and immediate danger to the
community can result from inadequate support being made available
to the vulnerable adult. Damage can also be done to the unsup
ported carer, often a woman: it is usually women who bear the
brunt of care within the family and community (Langan, 1990:58-
70). The attraction of promoting individual rights and choices by
returning individuals to the community can override the core values
of challenging the negative discrimination that is experienced by

many carers. It can also undermine the right to protection of those
at risk of abuse to themselves and others (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a: 1 5- 1 6).
With this in mind, due consideration must be given to the potential
exploitation of the carer within the private domain, and to the
emotional, personal and physical needs of the client.
Particpation
i and user rights: difference and diversity within
the community
The section above which discussed individual rights in relation to
childcare practice argued that value judgements should not be made
about an individual's capacity to parent or care for a child because
of their racial origin, age, sexual orientation or their gender.
Similarly, policy and practice interventions aiming to develop Care
in the Community must not assume that all users participate and
benefit from local provision (Biehal, 1 993). Upholding the theor
etical proposal that community care 'can be a strategy for upholding
the rights of users to be treated as full and equal citizens' , Biehal
concentrates on the practical application of 'participation' as
founded upon 'a commitment to users' rights' (Biehal, 1 993:444) .
The promotion of participation through 'mission statements' is not a
guarantee that all users will participate equally in practice. Genuine
participation occurs if users have rights to negotiate decisions at
every level of decision-making. Referring to her study of the
individual contacts between workers in social care and older people,
Biehal looked at the way in which 'service users were encouraged to
express their own view of their needs' (Biehal, 1 993:445). Her study
encouraged professionals to consider the ways in which the
inequality of power between professionals and service users resulted
in definitions of need being made 'on behalf of users rather than in
partnership with them' (Biehal, 1 993:446).
Stereotypical assumptions are inherent in the decision-making
process on behalf of users. These assumptions have been challenged
in relation to the concept of working with 'communities of interests',
outlined by the Barclay Report (Barclay, 1982:xiii). Preferring to
refer to 'social networks which develop around an awareness of
oppression' rather than communities of interest, Trevillion recog
nises the need for the accommodation of diversity and conflict
within communities and networks (Trevillion, 1 992:83-5). He sees
considerable scope in community care legislation, particularly in its
potential for promoting self-help and self-advocacy, through which
individuals have an opportunity to define their own needs and
interests. He refers to the development of organisations such as
Body Positive and Positively Women which 'have grown out of a
community's discovery o f itself and its power' (Trevillion, 1 992:85).

Such networks of interest arise from the need for individuals to
represent themselves, as opposed to being represented by others.
This accommodates self-defined differences between individual
experiences, and creates opportunities for empowerment where the
social worker functions in a partnership which recognises the
individual circumstance (Trevillion, 1 992:83-97). This interpretation
of networks of interests is attractive, as the worker becomes
accountable to individual clients' needs within the community, and
to the relevant networks of interest.
The value of working in partnership and of maintaining an
accountable service, as outlined above, is described by CCETSW in
its analysis of disability issues (CCETSW, 1 991c). Many disabled
people have become increasingly critical of support services offered
to them. Social work practice has been criticised for failing to
consult the client, making assumptions about individual need from
a medical rather than social concept of disability (CCETSW,
1991c: 1 3). In this context, scope for change and improvement exists
within the legislative requirements of the NHS and Community
Care Act 1 990. This stipulates that social worker and client be
intricately involved with the assessments of need and management of
support services (CCETSW, 1 99 1c: 14-:- 1 5). Such practice, for
example user involvement, the encouragement of consumer choice
and the maintenance of an accountable, multi-disciplinary service,
creates a 'social model' rather than an individual medical model.
The emphasis on self-determination, and on the client-led services
which are prevalent within de-institutionalisation and community
care legislation, is endorsed by campaigners calling for the
'normalisation' of people with learning difficulties. Williams
( 1 992 : 1 42) argues that the aim of such changes is to
provide ways for people with learning difficulties to integrate into the
mainstream of society, to participate and be valued members of society
and enjoy the same rights, opportunities and patterns of living as others
in society.
Williams identifies the development of self-advocacy groups as

providing ways of empowering people, encouraging more equal and
cooperative relationship between service users and providers.
The appropriation of power by able-bodied society, . with the
subsequent devaluation of respect and dignity for the individual with
a disability or with a learning difficulty, has perpetuated the
dependency of disabled people on the able-bodied community
(Oliver, 1 99 1). The publication of a CCETSW-funded guide to
community care by and for people with learning difficulties shows
how the individual users can challenge such negative discrimination

by participating in their own assessment and in the management of
their care plan (people First, 1 993). However, as argued earlier,
respecting the individual must mean that all forms of oppression be
considered together. For example, the focus on 'self' in 'self
advocacy' should ensure that services in the community are not
developed only within a Eurocentric perspective which at best
assumes its accessibility to 'others' and at worst actively excludes
'others'. CCETSW argues that, 'given the historic failure to deliver
appropriate personal social services to their community', the new
agenda for action will need close scrutiny (CCETSW, 1 99 I c: 1 22).
At the same time, CCETSW ( 1 99 I b:89) recognises racism as a
fundamental problem by stating that 'it is possible that many black
clients are not convinced that social workers are committed to
upholding civil rights or equality for black people'. The 'mission'
espoused by the provider (CCETSW, 1991c:20) must therefore
challenge discrimination and attempt to remain accessible to the
community it serves. The provider must develop a business plan
which analyses the external environment from a range of
perspectives, which include economic, sociocultural and politico
legal.
This demonstrates the fact that deeds speak more than words.
That is to say, the value of empowering and enabling clients of
diverse social and cultural backgrounds should not be treated as
conveying a slogan. The good intention must be translated into
effective practice by actively engaging and applying the principles
discussed in this chapter.
Commitment to social justice and social welfare: from Care

in the Community to control by the community
The previous sections addressed core values which place priority on
respect for the individual, and referred to the values and strengths of
working within the 'community'. Central to the themes covered is
the need to challenge negative discrimination. In this section we
refer to social work with offenders, drawing on the core values
identified above as transferable across the range of practice, while
elaborating on the value of expressing a commitment to social
justice and social welfare (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a: 1 5; 1 995:26).
As with all areas of practice, knowledge of the relationship
between the individual viewpoint of the practitioner, the require
ments of the professional role, and of the overall function of the
agency within the system is essential. Knowledge of how basic social
work values apply within the criminal justice system is of paramount
importance. As Denney (1 99 1 : 6 1 ) suggests:
The approach to probation training rightly points to the fact that lack of
basic knowledge can tragically affect the outcome of social work
intervention. It can also be argued that a failure to locate racism in
organisational structures can have devastating effects on the quality of
service delivered to the recipients of probation services.
The Home Office concentration on 'new realist values in probation',

where emphasis is placed on the offence committed as opposed to the
social history of the offender, challenges the 'therapeutic optimism'
of the probation service of the 1 960s and 1 970s (Willis, 1 98 1). This is
further reflected in vague government intentions to separate
probation training from social work education (Denney, 1 99 1 : 6 1 ;
Home Office, 1 995a, 1 995b; Nellis, 1 996). The more welcomed
proposal of discrete training for probation officers alongside an
integrated generic social work foundation course provides scope for
students to concentrate on the development of shared knowledge,
values and skills, making connections between and within the role of
probation and other social work disciplines. This emphasis opens up
the scope for the caring credo: 'an attitude towards suspects, accused
persons and prisoners based on liberal and humanitarian values' to
be understood alongside the punishment credo: 'the punitive
degradation of offenders' (Lord Scarman, quoted in Rutherford,
1 993:viii). Rutherford argues that practitioners at all levels of the
criminal justice system play a central role in expressing humane
values. While he emphasises the importance of knowledge of the
ideologies and values espoused by the practitioner, he also recognises
two other ways by which 'the pervasive but often concealed
relationship between values and criminal justice' is exerted. These are
the formal legislation and the structural arrangements of the criminal
justice system (Rutherford, 1 993 : 1 -2).
With respect to formal legislation, the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 ,
with its 1 993 amendments (see also Chapter 6 i n this volume for
further comment), places emphasis on the punishment credo,
acknowledging research which argues that custody is a poor
deterrent to further offending (Home Office, 1 990) and has little
value in enhancing human dignity.3 The Act attempts to ensure that
custody is withheld as a sentence for the minority of serious
offenders (section 1 (2) (a» , while community-based sentences are
promoted for those with less serious offences. Custody is to be
imposed by the court to protect the public from serious harm. This
attempt to reduce the use of custody for minor offences should be
welcomed, since research into the use 6f custodial sentences suggests
that some practices under the auspice of pursuit of social justice
have perpetuated, as opposed to challenged, negative discrimination.
For example, black people with learning difficulties or mental health
problems have been found to be over-represented within institutional

provision (Browne, 1990; Francis, 1 99 1 : 8 1 -2) and women have
been found to be judged according to their conformity to the
stereotypical feminine image as well as for their offence (Gelsthorpe,
1 989; Cain, 1989). Furthermore, some evidence suggests that
miscarriages of justice have occurred when some offenders, who
pleaded not guilty, without a pre-sentence report in Crown Court,
were sentenced to custody: a disproportionately high number of
these were black offenders (NACRO, 1 993:5). The damaging use of
racist stereotypes and symbols, as opposed to a non-judgmental
assessment of the reality of individual behaviour, may reveal more
about the 'ideological baggage' of white people than about the
families of black people (pitts, 1 993).
The Criminal Justice Act 1 9 9 1 , and 1 993 amendments, is the first
recognition in statute law of the duty of those administering criminal
justice to avoid discrimination (Home Office and NACRO, 1 992).
Section 95 of the 1 991 Act insists that those administering criminal
justice should 'avoid discrimination against persons on the ground
of race or sex or any other improper ground' (Criminal Justice Act
1 99 1 : section 95).
While these developments are welcomed, conflicts arise between
differing values of some of the CCETSW requirements and those
proposed by the Home Office within legislative reform. For example,
the government's exploration of the use of private companies or
trusts in the delivery of services raises concern as to how CCETSW's
demand for a non-oppressive, anti-racist and anti-sexist service will
be maintained in the demand/profit-led ethos (Denney, 1 99 1 :60).
Similarly, the emphasis on the 'punishment credo' is extended as the
concept of punishment within the community is developed (Criminal
Justice Act 1 99 1 : sections 6, 1 0). This emphasis on the punishment
credo within the legislation explained above raises concern about the
long-term effects of the limited scope for preventative and flexible
responses to offending behaviour within local communities.
This brings us to Rutherford's second concern: where he asks for
an analysis of values within the structural arrangements of the
criminal justice system. Whatever the legislative framework, the
individual practitioner's values can never be divorced from the reality
of local and specific experience. For example, despite the creation of
national standards as an attempt to maintain quality assurance
across local variations, and to ensure that the sentence reflects the
seriousness of the offence (the Proportionality Principle, Criminal
Justice Act 1 99 1 : sections 1 8(2), 6(1), (1 (2)) the interpretation of
sentencing guidelines could, if used wrongly, with too little account
taken of personal mitigation and other contributing items, undermine
that intent. NACRO (1993: 12) warns that there is a possibility that
this could 'escalate sentencing, with serious cost implications', and
undermine much progressive community-based work.
As practitioners are working with different magistrates, in
different services and with diverse community resources, it is
important that there ought to be some common and uniform service
delivery without challenging regional 'individuality'. The need to
maintain the respect for the individual while responding to the
strengths and skills of different local communities will be pertinent
to working with offenders. Central to the debates around the
changes in recent legislation and structural arrangements to social
work with offenders is the attempt to maintain core values while
responding to the increasing demand for an accountable service
within often poorly resourced and overstretched communities. The
centre stage of any good social work practice, including the super
vision of offenders, still consists of the same values: a commitment
to the dignity of all individuals irrespective of their specific back
ground and location; respect for privacy and confidentiality; respect
for the rights of clients and their families to know the options, the
reason for intervention and their involvement in shaping, as far as is
possible, their future. This means recognising, as well as promoting,
the strengths and skills to be found in local communities. In toto, the
core aim of any social work practitioner should be to strive towards
'
establishing working 'partnerships' and empowering participants to
exercise their rights and enable them to make choices. Even in cases
where choice may appear to be limited, as for example in admin
istering penal sanctions, at every stage of the social and legal
relationships that take place the defendant, or victim or their
families have rights and choices which they should be made aware
of and encouraged to exercise. For example, notwithstanding the
problematic nature of 'consent' in the administration of community
service orders (Vass, 1984) the defendant is entitled to receive clear
guidelines and options prior to being invited to consent. Consent can
be his or her right to accept or reject punishment but should not be
denied or used as a means by which the defendant is coerced into
submission for fear that some other more painful punishment would
be in the offing.
The practitioner has the responsibility to communicate clearly
with clients, informing them of these rights and choices. This is
reflected in all areas of practice, and its importance cannot be
underestimated. While external resources diminish, increasing
emphasis is placed on the importance of the practitioner as a
resource. Responsibility is placed on the individual to deliver a non
oppressive and accountable service. The recent literature on
'empowerment' stresses this theme within social work theory and

practice.
It is with this in mind that we conclude by looking at the use of
self as the location for the development of competent practice.
Conclusion
The starting point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one
really is, and is knowing thyself as a product of the historical process to
date which has deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an
inventory. (Gramsci, 197 1 :324)
The above quotation asks that priority be placed on knowledge of

self, located within and determined by historical events, privileged
with the scope to create change. The complexities of such emphasis
are becoming more apparent as the professional use of self is
incorporated into the analysis of anti-discriminatory practice. In
short, the core values of social work can be stated and promoted as
this chapter has attempted to do, but some values have no
significance or meaning unless they are internalised. The individual
social worker must believe in those values and apply them in
practice.
An increasing body of literature is addressing the need to use
good supervision as a mechanism for exposing concerns around
difference between self and other (YeUoly, 1 993). The use of self in
the professional's capacity to stand back and take a wider, non
prejudicial view is being explored and projected as a means of
developing practice which challenges negative discrimination
(Loughlin, 1 992; Frosh, 1 987; Yelloly, 1 993). For example, the use
of psychodynamic theories, informed by political awareness of
structural inequalities, provides a context within which prejudice can
be localised and individualised (payne, 1 992). The processes of
transference and counter-transference can reveal the distinction
between the needs of the client and the needs of the worker (Brown
and Pearce, 1 992: 1 63). Good supervision helps to identify 'differ
ence' as it arises in practice, enabling workers to ensure that 'their
own values and prejudices do not detract from their professional
objectivity' (Department of Health and Social Security, 1 988 : 1 0).
Such processes can ensure that a special commitment to anti
discriminatory practice is made and that mechanisms develop for
monitoring one's own and others' difficulties in this area in efforts to
develop a more appropriate practice (CCETSW, 1 99 1 a, 1 99 1b,
1 99 1c, 1 99 1d, 1 995).
The challenge for social work is to deliver an appropriate non
oppressive practice. This means making constructive accommoda-
tion of the lessons from the past while adhering to a set of core
values without colluding with popular attempts, from a range of
political perspectives, to undermine social work's professional
development.
Notes
1 . For example the rights of residents to achieve their potential capacity at a

physical, intellectual, emotional and social level; their rights to dignity, autonomy and
individuality; and their rights to have their qualities, experiences and talents respected.
2. Accepting the ideological preference for community care in theory is different
from accepting its implementation in practice. Resource allocation to local authorities
has invariably failed to meet the demands placed upon the community, where often
poorly trained staff struggle to meet the basic needs of their client group.
3. The Criminal Justice Act's main theme of expanding community penalties and
establishing prison as a last resort run counter to the current expansion of prison
regimes, and the claim by Mr Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, that 'prison
works' (see Vass, 1996).
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3
The Core Skills of Social Work
In the wake of the Children Act 1 989, the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1
and the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1 990
and the introduction of the new Diploma in Social Work
(CCETSW, 1995), the profession is once again re-examining itself.
Part of this re-examination includes attempts at redefinition of skills.
The Barclay Report (1982) defined these as 'skills in human
relationships, skills in analysis . . . and skills in effectiveness'. These
skills require fresh consideration, but whether new skills are
required, or whether these are in effect any different from past skills
is a matter for debate.
In the context of care management, for example, is it just the
acquiring of new skills which is being demanded or is a different
kind of social worker needed (Orme and Glastonbury, 1 993)? What
is different about working in partnership with users currently and
what if anything remains the same? What are necessary skills in
developing an empowering practice?
Essentially this chapter will address the question of core skills:
what they are, why they are considered necessary and how they are
acquired and implemented. Skills development can be seen as a
bridge between exploring values, acquiring knowledge and
translating these into positive service provision. Without knowledge
(e.g. social work theory, research findings, legislation) and without
an understanding of how values (e.g. of worker, client, agency,
society) affect individual situations, skills remain undefined and
vague. 'Slhe communicates well', 'slhe is good with people', and so
on. Operationalising that knowledge and understanding is the
bedrock to developing competent practice.
CCETSW Paper 30 (CCETSW, 199 1 , 1 995) identifies five broad
categories which incorporate necessary skills. Cognitive skills are
identified as the ability to analyse and apply knowledge to practice.
Interpersonal skills cover a wide and complex range, for example
understanding of self, self in relation to other, locating and working
with complicated feelings and situations. Clear communication, and
working in partnership are also grouped in this section. Decision
making, administrative skills and the ability to use resources
effectively are grouped separately. There is clearly a relationship
The Core Skills of Social Work 63
between each of these categories, and an overlap in the skills used in

each.
These have now been superseded by six core competences as part
of the rewriting of Paper 30 (see CCETSW, 1 995). These com
petences refer to: communicating and engaging, promoting and
enabling; assessing and planning; interviewing and providing
services, and working in organisations.
It is however important to acknowledge the fundamental signifi
cance of many of the core skills identified in this chapter. They
reflect and at the same time complement CCETSW's requirements.
In our view they will remain essential components of competent
practice in any organisational context and in departmental
reorganisations.
Each of the following sections will address these necessary skills
underpinning sound practice. Each will consider what they are, how
they are acquired and the meaning of their use in current practice.
In the context of the continual reorganisation of personal social
services these meanings may at times alter in emphasis. With
changes of role and job description there may be more emphasis in
some roles on, for example, administrative skills than interpersonal
skills. However, without the latter the former cannot happen and it
is with this in mind that the following sections seek to provide a
broadly based look at the developments of significant skills for
service provision, working in 'partnership with members of the
community' and 'collaborating with colleagues and workers in other
organisations' (CCETSW, 199 1 , 1995).
Cognitive skiDs
Developing analytic skills, a capacity to evaluate, using research
findings effectively, and applying this knowledge and understanding
to practice are the cornerstones to developing competence in this
area. We need to think further about the meaning of these phrases.
The importance of research to social work practice and the active
use of research to inform the work is as comparatively recent as the
development of social work itself following the publication of the
Seebohm Report (1 968). Broadly it could be placed in three main
categories:
1. Research following some tragedy or traumatic event, which

includes inquiry reports (Department of Health, 1991b);
2. Empirical research addressing the experiences of, for example,
managers, workers and users of services (Cleaver and Freeman,
1 994; Gibbons, 1993), or addressing the administration of service
provision, the enforcement of community service orders and the

effectiveness of community penalties (McIvor, 1992; Raynor,
1 988; Vass, 1 984, 1 990);
3. Statistical research addressing such concerns as the operation of
child protection registers (Little and Gibbons, 1993), provision of
care in the community (Department of Health, 1 989a, 1990).
Clearly, research knowledge has different functions but essentially it

conveys a pattern which can then contribute to outcomes (Depart
ment of Health, 1 99 1c). Each of the above three areas has a
relevance to planning of policy and organisation of services to carry
out that policy. Recommendations from the Study of Inquiry
Reports (Department of Health, 1 99 1 b) for example address the
agency context, issues for management and the management of
individual cases. At another level, research findings on the super
vision of offenders in the community have led to amendments in
penal policy, and the introduction of national standards in an effort
to reduce diversity, improve service delivery and instruct as well as
enable social workers and probation officers in the field to carry out
their tasks in a non-discriminatory manner (Home Office et al.,
1 995). Each of these sections contains recommendations and
proposals. While these themselves will be mediated in individual
contexts, adapting relevant essentials could give a general direction
to providing services of a similar quality nationwide.
Empirical research, while geographically specific, can at least
stimulate thinking about the congruence between users' experiences
and service provision. At most it can provide the framework of a
particular service, as well as the basis for creating a dialogue
between users and providers/policy-makers. It can also offer a sense
of the individual experience of workers, managers or users which
can be individually confirming or challenging and can collectively
contribute to considering for example training packages and
consultancy/supervision issues.
Statistical information is particularly useful in planning services,
organising budgets and developing policy. Predictive figures in
relation to child protection registers can determine the size of team
to provide direct work, determine consideration of residential and
fostering provision and possible budgetary allocation for training in
this area of work. They might also lead to a reconsideration of
localised criteria for placement on the register or reconsideration of
the way in which separate categories are used and viewed.
This area of research is especially important for practitioners in
terms of what can be learnt from previous actions in practice. It has
also been enshrined in legislation. For example, the paramountcy
principle in the Children Act 1989 could in part be directly

attributed to the importance of maintaining focus on the child, a
focus which became lost in the Jasmine Beckford and Tyra Henry
cases with tragic consequences (Department of Health, 1991b).
There is a link between reading and understanding research or
research-based material, translating this into organisational ideas of
ideas for practice and the development of analytic skills. None of
these areas excludes any of the others or exists in isolation; they are
interlinked, overlap, and if brought together should provide a
complementary experience of service delivery. Certainly the degree
of analysis will vary according to context, and different roles will
dictate different bases for the development of analytic skills. Again
these may not be completely separate. An analysis of need in a
practical situation may not exclude the analysis of the emotional
context of that situation at a different time. Knowing that both may
be necessary, which takes priority, and at what point, is an analytic
process in itself, whatever the role of the worker and whatever the
context. The spectrum of analytic skills therefore is wide; a court
report offering an in-depth analysis of a child in context at one end
of the continuum and a decision about whether to physically touch a
child in a tantrum in a residential setting appear both different and
connected. Deciding how to help an older person bathe in a
residential context is different again, and the differences are often
reflected by the organisation in terms of status and expenditure.
They can be seen to be connected, however, in relation to the
application of a simple or more complex analysis, according to
context and role, which in turn leads to sensitive and appropriate
practice.
The continuum of analysis happens from the point of referral
onwards, and will involve staff who have very different roles in the
organisation. The context of this chapter indicates an emphasis on
social work skills after the initial referral, which may involve basic
advice/information-giving or provision of direct services. Initial skills
include some kind of analysis, such as helping the inquirer to clarify
the nature of the referral, if necessary. If the referral involves a third
party, the status and confidentiality of the information needs to be
established; similarly the level of urgency and preferred solution (if
any). Differences of language, culture and any specific needs also
need to be established as part of the initial analysis regarding the
referral, its status, possible allocation, and advice regarding the
second stage, which will continue the process of assessment in
greater depth. (As this is an extremely important area of practice it
will be considered separately later in the chapter.)
Analysis and evaluation are not separate skills. There is an
overlap as both are part of a continuum, which aims at imputing

meaning to information gathered or received. The notion both of
analysis and of evaluation form part of a dynamic process of work
from referral to closure. Both need to be consistently present as part
of the interaction of worker and client, and clarifying this process is
an essential ingredient of working in partnership with users.
This is in relation to direct service provision. Evaluation also
varies according to role and the context of the work. The skills a
team manager employs to evaluate the service will reflect the needs
of the agency, the needs of the workers, and the needs of the aspect
of the service for which they are responsible. For example, the
evaluative skills of a front-line manager responsible for a system of
care management would need to include collating information from
appropriate monitoring systems, allocation of budgets, analysis of
workload and work being undertaken, team developments and
evaluating the process of change and its impact on workers and
services.
The 1990 government reforms to health and social services created
a new context for community teams (Department of Health, 1 989a,
1 989b, 1 990). A quasi-market was established, and social services
departments established the principle of the statutory authority as
the assessor or purchaser. Providers were independent services, and!
or provider sections of the statutory authority.
Evaluation will differ according to whether the statutory service is
deemed to be a purchaser or a provider. For a social worker in a
purchasing role, part of an evaluation of client need will be of the
services offered to meet that need. As providers, workers will be
considering, for example, the quality of care provided and the
numbers of requests for specific aspects of care. So again there is a
continuum of assessment skills which include developing, monitoring
and evaluative systems that affect policy and practice.
The following questions may be helpful in identifying the use of
cognitive skills by the worker:
• What do I know about the case? What information is available?

Who referred? For what purpose?
• What appears to be the core problem, and the associate
problems that I need to focus on?
• What are the facts as opposed to impressions?
• Have I a value position on the matter? That is, have I a
particular perspective which I can use to analyse the issue
without discriminating against the user's rights and choices?
• What is my analysis of the information I have?
• On what do I base this analysis?
• Is there other information I need to have in order to evaluate? If

so, from what source (policy, legislation, research, etc.)?
• What can I learn from any similar situations which may have
been recorded?
• How might this affect what I now do, and is this appropriate in
this situation?
• Have I clarified what I am doing, and for what reasons, suffi
ciently for myself, for the client, for the agency, for any relevant
external body?
Administrative skills
Competent administration at all levels must underpin the social

work task. Although some functions are carried out by adminis
trators or managerial staff, social workers still need to be able to
maintain an overview of the necessary tasks in relation to their own
workload, and the way in which these tasks may need to accom
modate other aspects of the service. Organising and prioritising
individual workloads is clearly essential, both for the competent
provision of service and for the sanity of the worker. This prioritis
ation may also need to accommodate resource availability and other
workers' priorities. So administering individual workloads and
understanding the systems of which these are a part interact to
enable the worker to organise and plan work successfully, com
petently and in accordance with agency policy and procedure.
One aspect of the administrative task needs to be explored in
detail here as it encompasses so much that is important in the social
work role. This is record-keeping and report-writing. Again these
will vary according to role, from a brief statement in a service user's
file to a complex court report in a child protection case, or a pre
sentence report in a criminal case. The proper presentation of
accurate information, whatever the context, is of paramount
importance for the well-being of the client.
Record-keeping and report-writing

These are essential aspects of the social work task. Yet somehow the
how, what and why questions that students and practitioners ask in
relation to these aspects are rarely comprehensively responded to in
the literature (Ford and Jones, 1 987). In order to do so one perhaps
needs to be clear about some of the blocks to effective writing skills
which social workers may commonly encounter. Boredom or
uninterest in the task may produce a reluctance to put pen to paper.
Self-consciousness about spelling, diction or grammar may be a
feature, lying within the broader concern about producing a public
record of what is experienced in the initial stages, as a private

activity between social worker and user. Workers may see them
selves as lacking skills in expressing what they truly experience.
Recording may be sidelined in relation to what is perceived as more
urgent and real work with clients. Fear of writing too much or too
little may be compounded by insufficient administrative resources or
lack of agency guidelines about the written tasks. Equally, the
guidelines may be unclear or not relevant. There may be unresolved
issues around the ethics of record-keeping (BASW, 1 983) and
confusion about how to separate facts from opinions and how to
distinguish the important from the trivial in records and reports.
Caught between a combination of such influences the worker may
become confused, feel de-skilled and need to be persuaded that the
written aspects of the work serve a purpose in relation to competent
practice.
In so far as commentators on the profession have addressed issues
of competence in relation to records, the inquiry into the death of
Shirley Woodcock in 1 984 (Department of Health, 1 99 1 b) noted
that they should provide the following:
• factual accounts of significant actions and decisions taken by the

social worker, probation officer or client;
• relevant details of current features of a case via brief three-to-six
monthly reviews;
• cumulatively, a historical account which informs the process of
planning;
• a reference point for others to act on in the absence of the
allocated worker;
• evidence for court proceedings, especially in the form of reports
or affidavits;
• a record for the agency of the worker's performance of statutory
functions or execution of agreed policy;
• material for research, review, evaluation, learning and teaching
purposes;
• an indication of shortfalls and gaps in services;
• continuity between workers handing over a case;
• improved inter-agency cooperation and information sharing;
• importantly facilitation of client participation if records are
shared and jointly agreed or provision of a record of involve
ment which may aid the client in understanding their history.
Clients' access to what is written about them

Over the last decade changes in the law and a growing research base
have confirmed the need for users of services to have access to
information held about them by professional bodies. The Access to

Personal Files Act 1 989 and the Access to Health Records Act 1 99 1
give people rights to see manual records concerning them, and the
Data Protection Act 1 984 accords similar rights with regard to
computer-held information.
Doel and Lawson (1986) and Ovretveit (1986) confirm that social
workers unused to giving clients access to their records express the
following reasons for non-disclosure:
• Clients may be adversely affected by disclosure.

• Workers may be adversely affected, particularly if clients chal-
lenge the veracity of their records in court.
• Third parties resist disclosure of their materials.
• Sharing records creates an additional burden of work.
• Disclosure involves establishing a relationship of trust over time,
which is not possible with new clients.
• There is a lack of agency guidelines on how or what information
should be shared.
• Clients are not interested in access to information.
• Confidential judgements need to be protected.
What the research also establishes is that apart from the reasons
which have some form of legal backing, social workers also feel
reluctant to share with their clients the judgements they reach about
eligibility for services or indeed their diagnostic judgements in non
statutory cases which do not require confidentiality in the same way
but form a collection of 'clinical musings'. Overall then, the diffi
culties are based on a constellation of personal fears, professional
concerns and lack of agency guidelines or instructions. This lack of
openness goes contrary to both legislative requirements and the
values of social work in empowering clients (see Chapter 2 on
values). As well as violating legal and value requirements, such
practice also leads to poor standards in service provision. The same
research studies find a number of advantages in pursuing a policy
and practice of access:
• Clients can challenge and amend statements which somehow

misrepresent them or are inaccurate.
• Partnership becomes a more explicit possibility where clients
have some say in what is recorded about them.
• It enables workers to recognise and attempt to fill the gaps which
may exist between what they say about empowerment of the
client and what they do about it. Honesty, openness and trust
are tested out pragmatically.
• Other agencies and professions which are less willing than social
work to disclose infonnation become more conscious about
disclosure and the legal framework which supports it.
• Writing factually in a language the client understands is devel
oped over time as a specific skill, and re-emphasises the need to
avoid jargon.
• Negotiating skills are sharpened in dialogue with clients about
the content of records and reports.
Some guidelines for competent practice

Social workers should aim to keep records and reports concise, as
objective as possible, and readable. Sources need to be stated, and
where infonnation is not supported by evidence, facts must be
distinguished from conjecture. Having said this, perhaps it is worth
indicating where extensive note-keeping may be necessary:
• when statutory proceedings are under way to provide evidence in

court;
• monitoring contact between parents and children where quality
of interaction is being assessed;
• in relation to reports of non-accidental injury to children,
including the details of investigation and assessment, identifying
how local and national guidelines for interventions in such cases
have been followed;
• where there are complex financial arrangements;
• when complaints have been made by clients about workers,
including residential carers;
• when clients are seeking to challenge a refusal of service.
While this is not an exhaustive list, it works along the principle that
only a minority of cases and situations require detailed records to be
kept and that a balance needs to be struck between too much detail
for everyday use and too little detail for evidential purposes.
Judgement also needs to be exercised in creating records and reports
which meet their purpose and make sense to the reader, for example
in separating fact from opinion. Similarly, avoid technical language
which mystifies rather than clarifies the writer's view (using words
such as sociopathic, labelling, subculture, sibling, enuretic, phobic,
insight, feedback) and which may appear meaningful to the social
worker, but in fact may diminish the quality of communication
between the writer and the readership. Value judgements which give
the appearance of professional assessments do so as well, as in this
example:
Mrs X is a complex and rather neurotic woman who, not having been
adequately parented herself, is now unable to provide for her family. She
dresses inappropriately and the house is messy and smells.
This type of clinical musing, with no evidence by way of observed

behaviour, does leave the reader wondering whether Mrs X herself
would have a view similar to that of the worker. Indeed, the
'metaphor' leaves much to the imagination - what exactly does it
refer to, and how much relevance does it have to understanding the
user's problems and needs? The following questions may be worth
asking when developing the skills for appraisal of a written account:
• Is it relevant to its purpose?

• Is it reliable? Can others vouch for its authenticity? If not, do I
make this lack of evidence clear?
• Is it factually accurate?
• Is it hearsay? Especially within a legal context one needs to
guard against acting in a manner contrary to the rules of
evidence.
• Is it balanced, and non-discriminatory? For example, does it
avoid negative stereotypes or recognise and validate client
strengths?
• Has it been shared where possible with the client, and has the
client been given relevant information about his/her rights?
• Have the client's views about the content of the written account
been officially recorded?
Written accounts are increasingly computerised, so a working

knowledge of information technology is rapidly becoming an
essential administrative skill in the social work task. This is of
developing importance for individual workloads and also opens up
opportunities to use information stored elsewhere in the department.
This growing use of technology also links with the use of research
findings and current literature, making this information more
immediately accessible and therefore more immediately part of
social work practice. While sometimes seen in isolation, competent
administrative skills can have far-reaching positive and negative
effects in service development, delivery and outcome.
Interpersonal skills
Interpersonal skills underpin social work practice at all levels

throughout the period of user contact. An ability to communicate
verbally, non-verbally and in writing is essential (Barclay, 1982;
CCETSW, 1 99 1 , 1 995). Communicating effectively - that is to say,
in a way that can be easily understood by others whatever their

situation and however different from the worker's - is difficult
enough in itself. For this communication to be both meaningful and
useful, to be able to be acted on, to make a difference, the response
to it also needs to be heard, understood in all its simplicity and
complexity, and again used actively. This notion of a developing
conversation then builds the user/worker relationship around the
task or situation. It creates a working partnership or a relationship
where roles are clearly defined and understood. The responsibility
for maintaining the boundaries of these relationships lies clearly with
the worker (Ahmad, 1 990).
There are key elements to interpersonal relationships between
social worker and user. The way in which these elements are
deployed and with what emphasis will vary according to the
individual situation.
Understanding of selflself-awareness
It may be controversial to place this at the top of the list. However,
without that awareness the other elements are liable to distortion.
The relationship may founder altogether or become tangled in an
unhelpful way, thus obscuring both roles and task. Self-awareness
does not only mean an awareness of the meaning of personal history
for the worker, and how that personal history may at times interact
with a user's personal history, with an ensuing impact on the work.
It also implies an understanding of the impact of difference in
the working relationship, and how such difference may affect both
process and outcome (Conn and Turner, 1 990). A worker may
choose a particular theoretical model to explore this further or may
do so through, for instance, training in the workplace, but the
importance of making any difference overt, especially in the context
of differing power relationships according to role, has been sub
stantiated in a range of texts (Ahmad, 1 990; Kareem and
Littlewood, 1 992; Langan and Day, 1 992). This will be developed in
a wider sense later. Here we are concerned with the individual
situation and how unacknowledged difference will in some way
impact detrimentally on the working relationship.
The following are some key questions for the worker when
developing competent practice in this area:
• In what way might my visual appearance and presentation affect

the immediate engagement process with the user?
• What do I need to understand about my own values in order to
practise competently?
• What are the key elements in my own personal history which

might affect me in this area of work?
• What may be happening in my personal life at the moment
which may affect me professionally - and in what ways?
• What do I need to do in order to ensure appropriate
professional/personal boundaries?
Making and sustaining working relationships

These communication skills are not peculiar to the social workerl
user relationship. They are extensions in the professional context to
the skills all of us need in our everyday interpersonal relationships
(Egan, 1990). The process of engagement is of paramount import
ance to the possibility of sustaining a working relationship, and this
process starts from the initial point of contact, often the written
referral. Paying close attention to the written information, and
considering how to initiate and achieve contact with the user,
whether in person or via the telephone, is a key to effective practice.
How the information is addressed, how differences are acknowl
edged sensitively, and in what way verbally and non-verbally the
worker approaches the user are part of this process. The worker's
age, gender, and other discernible characteristics will all need to be
considered as part of paying attention to the immediate impact of
contact (d'Ardenne and Mahtani, 1989).
Helping the users clarify their problem, tell their story, involves
listening to and understanding that story in context. These elements
communicate an empathic response to the user and translate that
understanding into active response. An accurate perception of the
user's situation and the ability to challenge assertively are part of the
active response. The latter aspect is often particularly difficult for
workers, who are sometimes immobilised by the complexity of
different power relationships between themselves and their clients.
However in the context of a sustained working relationship,
challenging is often an important aspect of the work and of the
process of change. Being specific and tactful, and inviting users to
act on their own values, not the workers' (Egan, 1990), are
fundamental characteristics of effective challenge, with clear goals in
mind.
The worker may use different theoretical models to gain an
overview of their working relationships, as well as the detail of
them. Whatever the model, the stages of the relationship and the
impact of these stages on the work need to be addressed. For
example, significant losses in a user's life may complicate the
sensitive ending phase of the relationship. Unfinished business, a
relapse of some kind, ending too soon or not soon enough are all
features of both users' and workers' difficulties at this stage.

Supervision is an important resource in order for the worker to
develop an overview of the work. This issue receives further
attention later.
Essentially, in a brief or longer-term working relationship the
worker is seeking to establish a meaningful insight with the user in
the relationship between experience, feeling and behaviour. This is
done through listening to and understanding both the content and
process of meetings and actively using this knowledge with a view to
exploring and facilitating potential change. Part of this may be to
realise that change is not possible, or at least not within the time
limits of a piece of work, for example in a statutory context. Again,
this may be a difficult conclusion for the worker to reach and will be
addressed in more detail later (Conn and Turner, 1990). The
following are some key questions for the worker in developing
competent practice in this area:
• Have I discussed my understanding of the users' story with them

or am I making assumptions?
• Am I working at the users' pace? If not are there agency-based
reasons for this which need to be explained? If not, am I moving
too fast or too slowly - and for what reason?
• If I feel lost or unsure, on what do I base this? Were there things
I should have done at the engagement stage?
• Am I using supervision/consultation to maintain an overview of
my work? If not, for what reasons?
This is not an exhaustive list of interpersonal skills but does address

key areas in developing competent practice. These core attributes
have been consistently referred to in social work practice based
texts, although the language used and the context around them will
constantly change.
Using authority
The use of authority as part of good practice involves balancing
several complex and delicate issues. Authority which is experienced
as appropriate, contained, just, and clearly defined is not some sort
of spontaneous happening. In the social worker/user relationship the
power invested in the former according to role already introduces
the notion of authority. Some situations (for example statutory and
residential work) will involve this more strongly than others both for
user and worker. Additionally there may be important visible
differences between worker and user that reinforce power differ
entials, replicating differences in the social/political context of life
outside that relationship.
Taking responsibility for appropriate use of authority needs to

address these levels in order to give the users maximum opportunity
to resolve their situation. Clearly establishing boundaries of the
worker's role, agency function and the requirements in relation to
the individual piece of work (for instance court reports and
conference reports) all contribute to authority being accessibly
defined.
Within these parameters, there is the personal skill of the worker
in using that position in an empowering way. This implies a strong
sense of self, on both a personal and a professional level, clarity
about personal boundaries, as well as a genuine empathy for the
user and the user's context. At the same time a professional
detachment from personal and interpersonal relationships must be
maintained. Using authority well draws on the skills outlined earlier
in this chapter. It also requires the worker at times to contain and
deal with degrees of hostility and aggression in a way which
maintains professional boundaries, while assessing the degree of risk
to self or other. Authority in this sense may involve containment
and direct action.
Any position of authority in relation to others is open to abuses of
power. This is particularly relevant in a context where workers will
at times be working with vulnerable adults, young people and
children. Maintaining a non-abusive position may be helped by
learning from users' experiences, in written or verbal form. The
following are some key questions for the worker in developing
competence in this area:
• How can I tell if I am maintaining a reasonable balance (e.g. by

observing user response, whether overt or covert)?
• Do I understand my role enough to use authority comfortably?
• How might any lack of confidence I feel affect my use of
authority (i.e. too much or too little)?
• How might my use of authority actually or potentially replicate
earlier experiences of authority figures for the user? With what
possible restUts?
• How might my own personal experiences affect my use of
professional authority?
Working with difference

There is a growing body of literature to refer to in this field (for
example Ahmad, 1 990; d'Ardenne and Mahtani, 1 989; Kareem and
Littlewood, 1 992; Langan and Day, 1 992; Oliver, 1 991). Within the
scope of this section we are essentially addressing both the unique
experience of workers'/users' relationships, the differences between
them, and the context in which the relationships take place - the
immediate, multi-disciplinary, or wider societal context.
The personal values which both client and worker bring to any
encounter, based primarily on their socioeconomic, educational and
cultural experiences, can influence both the process of the encounter
and the content in terms of what is shared, in what way, and with
what aims. The worker ostensibly has more power (though see Vass
(1 984) for an alternative view), delineated by the professional role,
but this is not always experienced as such. For example, women in
residential work often occupy an ambiguous position in the social
structure. As Aymer (1992: 191) suggests, 'On the one hand they must
provide a private function of caring which is highly valued but on the
other hand a public function which is demoralising and devalued.'
It must be the responsibility of the worker to decide how and
when to address differences in the relationship. This will form part
of the basis of developing an understanding from which new
solutions can spring. In acknowledging the importance of making
difference something that can be openly owned and talked about
there is sometimes a tendency amongst those feeling less confident in
this area to forget that this is a dynamic process. Once acknowl
edged it is somehow resolved or put to one side. Similarly to other
aspects of process, difference will continue to play an important part
in the life of work with a client, and needs to be consistently
considered (and possibly referred to) in this way.
The impact of the wider social context, and the agency which the
worker represents, will often form a key part of the individual piece
of interaction. For example, in working with someone who has
experienced the difficulties of migration, there are immediate issues a
worker would want to consider as part of the task: loss and
separation from a country, from family members, from a language
commonly shared, hostility from neighbours or on the street,
bureaucratic and legal difficulties, which are often mirrored in
agency negotiations regarding housing, benefits, education and so
on. Sensitivity to the context makes these and other questions of
immediate relevance, and this widens the spectrum within which
behaviour is understood. Stages of loss, dealing with hostile
bureaucracies, and other hostilities, bring forth responses which can
then be labelled aggressive, depressed, inadequate and so on.
Viewing these as the only possible responses to an untenable
situation offers a very different explanation. The following are some
key questions for the worker in developing competence in this area:
• What is the context of the relationship for myself and for the
user?
• How do these differ and with what potential results?

• How do my own values affect my practice when working with
difference? With what potential results?
• What do I need to do within my own agency, or with other
agencies, to promote competent practice in this area?
Working in partnership: advocacy and negotiation

These three notions may not always be seen to belong together, but
they can form part of the same continuum. Both advocacy and
negotiation have their place in any partnership: not consistently, but
as something a person at times may be more empowered to do. In
developing a professional partnership there will almost inevitably be
an imbalance of power, so the notion of partnership may in itself be
questionable. Notwithstanding these difficulties, being able to act as
an advocate or negotiator on a user's behalf will sometimes be
jointly agreed as appropriate, using position and role.
The Children Act 1989 and the National Health Service and
Community Care Act 1990 have both brought the concept of
working in partnership firmly on to the agenda. The paramountcy of
parental responsibility as opposed to agency responsibility could be
seen both as a commitment to empowering practice and as a
reflection of an economic and political climate which encourages
individual rather than state responsibility. This tension can have an
effect on staff, who may experience a sense of cognitive dissonance:
an inconsistency between their beliefs and how they should behave.
Marsh and Fisher (1992) offer five principles of working in
partnership which also address issues of authority for social work
intervention. The following is an adaptation of these:
(a) Investigation of problems should be with the explicit consent of

the potential user, wherever possible.
(b) User agreement or a clear statutory mandate are the only basis
for partnership-based intervention.
(c) The views of all relevant family members and carers are sought
to inform decision-making.
(d) Services are based on negotiated agreement wherever possible
rather than assumptions and/or prejudices concerning the
behaviour and wishes of the users.
(e) Users should have the greatest degree of choice possible in the
services offered.
The following are some key questions for the worker in devel
oping competence in this area:
• Have I negotiated a working agreement which is clear to all

parties?
• Have I included all relevant views in any decision-making
process?
• How might users describe their experience of the service?
• Have I maximised the possibilities of choice in this situation?
• Am I clear about the balance between the use of authority and
working in partnership in each situation? Am I maintaining that
balance appropriately?
Decision-making skills
Decision-making involves three key concepts: authority, responsi

bility and accountability. The appropriate use of authority was
referred to earlier. This and the other two concepts should all
happen as part of a process of partnership with the user. In some
instances, of course, the weighting of these concepts towards the
worker is considerable and has to be so in terms of agency function
(e.g. child protection situations or the broader context of probation
work). In others, much of the responsibility may rest with the user,
as well as some of the authority to act, and a level of accountability
to self, to others and/or to the agency. Working agreements should
facilitate clarity in this area: who is responsible for what, in what
circumstances, and to whom they are accountable.
Assessment is an example of an area of work which necessarily
incorporates a decision-making function. There is a broad spectrum
of assessment, from quite small pieces of work to major inter
ventions into users' lives. The decision-making processes involved
will similarly reflect the level of statutory intervention, agency and
legal requirements, and any other relevant factors. Even in situations
where there can be no agreement between the agency and the user
about decisions made, there can at least be clarity about what they
are. For example, the Department of Health guidelines on protect
ing children (Department of Health, 1 988) offer a comprehensive
guide to necessary information collation to inform the decision
making process. The results and interpretation of that information
need to be available to parentslcarers/childrenlyoung people wher
ever possible as part of the process of trying to develop working
relationships. They also need to be available to other agencies, and
in multi-agency situations there must be a clear understanding of
different roles and clear contracts of work between departments to
facilitate decision-making for workers and families (Department of
Health, 1991d).
Needs-led assessments as defined by the Department of Health
(1991b; see also 1 99 1 a) address the requirements of the individual to

achieve, maintain or restore an acceptable quality of life. This is,
however, defined by the particular authority or care agency, so that
although the concepts of choice or empowerment may ostensibly be
high on the agenda, the reality of the decision-making process may
be so bound by economic restraint and resource availability that
shared decision-making is in reality heavily curtailed.
Coulshed (1991) emphasises the personal and professional values
and assumptions which underlie any decision-making process. She
places these in six categories:
1 . theoretical (use of knowledge, cognitive skills, etc.);

2. economic;
3 . aesthetic (personal preference);
4. social (valuing the quality of human relationships);
5. political (taking account of power balances);
6. religious (a belief in what is right or good).
These are only some of the influences on the apparently rational

process of decision-making, but they indicate the complexities which
are at times present to trap the unwary worker. Uncertainty,
ambiguity, lack of time or reflective space, conflicting needs and
values all affect the process and the outcome.
Using the skills already discussed in this chapter, weighing up sets
of information, using supervision appropriately, getting advice in
complex situations, all contribute to developing competent practice
in what can be one of the most difficult areas of work. Some key
questions for the worker to ask are as follows:
• What are the bases for any decision I might make (e.g. research
findings, interviews, 'hunches')? Is this sufficient? If not, what
else do I need to do?
• Have I consulted all appropriate parties, both users and other
professionals?
• Is the situation about which the decision is to be made clear to
all concerned?
• If clarity is problematic are the reasons for this known, and how
does this inform any decision made?
• What is the element of risk involved?
• Are the decisions addressing that risk?
• How can I double-check this?
Use and management of resources

Knowing the range of resources available to self and user is clearly a
precursor to using them. This information may be readily available,
or it may require a degree of effort on the part of the worker to

collate an accurate picture of the resources available from public,
private or voluntary sector sources in their field of work.
Supervision and consultation are of paramount importance as
part of a formal structure. Groups of peers, for example black
workers' groups, can also be an important part of the formal
structure. Informal networks of support or contacts resulting in
service provision can be a creative part of the workers' vocabulary
as well.
There is a further creative and empowering side to the issue of
resources. Some knowledge and competence in budgeting resources
in the current sociopolitical and economic context is required of
social workers. The workers may themselves be able to influence the
way in which resources are deployed or used, either as new
possibilities, or within existing frameworks. Some key questions to
ask here are as follows:
• Can I identify consistent gaps in resources for my area of work?

• If so, is there anything I could do to address this - or are there
gaps in my own knowledge?
• How do I communicate the existence of possible resources to
users?
• Could I do this more effectively or in a more empowering way?
• Do I use resources for myself well? How do I know this?
• Am I able to administer a budget when necessary?
• Can I argue convincingly for resources at a time of scarcity?
Conclusion
This chapter addressed both micro and macro skills in major areas
of practice. It is not an exhaustive account, but an indication of
areas of skills development necessary for competent practice.
lllustrative areas of competent practice can be found in more detail
in the final chapter.
The divisions used here, while not arbitrary, to an extent
artificially divide skills which interrelate and overlap. Cognitive
skills are necessary in carrying out any of the functions of the work,
for example decision-making. Making and sustaining working
relationships is a cornerstone of good practice, and of carrying out
agency function. These are unreachable without good interpersonal
skills and an active understanding of working with difference. Sound
administration underpins the whole practice structure.
Workers may at different times draw on only some of the skills
mentioned, and at other times may utilise all of them. Different
situations will require different skills. The spectrum of simple to

extremely complex tasks will also dictate what skills are used. The
context in which any of these skills is used is inherently uncertain.
Uncertain because of political, legislative and organisational
changes; and the uncertainty and ambiguity of the human dilemmas
with which social workers become involved. The notion of skills
development is not static. It is part of a dynamic process for the
worker, drawing on personal experience, professional training, and
learning in the work context. It will continually draw on clearly
identified changes, for instance in legislation, and on the constant
process of engaging with others and learning from them. Service
users can be excellent trainers in skills development, if workers are
willing to acknowledge this.
References
Ahmad, B . (1990) Black Perspectives in Social Work. Birmingham: Venture Press.

Ayrner, C. (1 992) 'Women in residential work: dilemmas and ambiguities', in M.
Langan and L. Day (eds), Women, Oppression and Social Work. London:
Routledge, pp. 1 86-20 1 .
Barclay, P . M . (1 982) Social Workers, their Roles and Tasks. London: National
Institute of Social Work, Bedford Square Press. (Barclay Report.)
British Association of Social Workers (1983) Effective and Ethical Record Keeping.
Report of the BAS W Case Recording Project Group. Birmingham: BASW.
CCETSW (1991) DipSW: Rules and Requirements for the Dipwma in Social Work
(paper 30), 2nd edn. London Central Council for Education and Training in Social
Work.
Social Work.
Cleaver, H. and Freeman, P. (1994) Parental Perspectives in Cases of Suspected Child
Abuse, London: HMSO.
Conn, J. and Turner, A. (1990) 'Working with women in families', in R. Perlberg and
A. Miller (eds), Gender and Power in Families. London: Routledge, pp. 175-95.
Couished, V. (1991) Social Work Practice, 2nd edn. London; BASWlMacmillan
Education.
d'Ardenne, P. and Mahtani, A. (1989) Transcultural Counselling in Action. London:
Sage.
Department of Health (1988) Protecting Children: A Guide for Social Workers
Undertaking a Comprehensive Assessment. London: HMSO.
Department of Health (1989a) Caring for People: Community Care in the Next
Decade and Beyond. London: HMSO.
Department of Health (l989b) Working for Patients. London: HMSO.
Department of Health (1990) Caring for People: Policy Guidance. London: HMSO.
Department of Health (1991a) Care Management and Assessment. London: HMSO.
Department of Health (1991b) Chad Abuse: A Study of Inquiry Reports 1980-1989.
London: HMSO.
Department of Health (1991c) Patterns and Outcomes in Child Placements. London:

HMSO.
Department of Health (1991d) Working Together under the Children Act 1989.
London: HMSO.
Doel, M. and Lawson, B. (1 986) 'Open records: the client's right to partnership',
British Journal of Social Work, 16: 407-30.
Egan, G. (1990) The Skilled Helper 4th edn. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
Ford, K. and Jones, A. ( 1987) Student Supervision. London: BASWlMacmillan.
Gibbons, J. (ed.) (1993) The Children Act 1 989 and Family Support: Principles into
Practice. London: HMSO.
the Supervision of Offenders in the Community. London: Home Office Probation
Division.
Kareem, J. and Littlewood, R. (1 992) Intercultural Therapy. Oxford: Blackwell
Scientific Publications.
Langan, M. and Day, L. (1992) Women, Oppression and Social Work. London:
Routledge.
Little, M. and Gibbons, J. (1 993) 'Predicting the rate of children on the child
protection register', Research, Policy and Planning, 10: 15-18.
McIvor, G. (1992) Sentence to Serve. Aldershot: Avebury.
Marsh, P. and Fisher, M. (1992) Good Intentions: Developing Partnership in Social
Services. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Oliver, J. (ed.) (1991) Disabled People and Disabling Environments. London: Jessica
Kingsley.
Orme, J. and Glastonbury, B. (1993) Care Management. London: BASWlMacmillan.
Ovretveit, J. (1 986) Improving Social Work Records and Practice. Birmingham:
BASW.
Perlberg, R. and Miller, A. (eds) (1990) Gender and Power in Families. London:
Routledge.
Raynor, P. (1988) Probation as an Alternative to Custody: A Case Study. Aldershot:
Gower.
Seebohm, I. (1968) Report of the Committee on Local Authority and Allied Services.
London: HMSO.
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Vass, A.A. (1990) Alternatives to Prison: Punishment, Custody and the Community.
London: Sage.
4
Social Work with Children and Families
More than any other specialism within the profession, social work
with children and families has received detailed media attention and
been subjected to much public debate and scrutiny. Many social
workers will be aware that, particularly within child protection
work, the opinions expressed about practitioners have been un
favourable (Franklin and Parton, 1991).
In essence, two types of opinions are expressed. First that social
workers do too little, too late. When a child dies at the hands of its
carers, public inquiries are instigated to explore the role of welfare
services, especially social work, in failing to protect the child
(Department of Health, 1 982, 1 991a). Whether or not the inquiries
reach conclusions about professional negligence or individual
culpability, the publicity given by the media often focuses on one
social worker, who is presented as naive, gullible, blameworthy and
in some circumstances committing murder by proxy (Ruddock,
199 1). The other opinion, a polar opposite of the first, is that social
workers do too much, too soon. This is most sharply expressed via
other public inquiries, for example in Cleveland (DHSS, 1 988)
where child sexual abuse was the issue, or in the Orkney Isles where
ritualised abuse was suspected. In these cases dawn raids to remove
children from their homes, denial of contact between children and
their carers and the provision of inexpert evidence for legal
proceedings have been highlighted and criticised.
Whereas in the first example social workers are presented as weak
and ineffectual, in the second they are seen as draconian, paying
little regard to the sanctity of family life. In the eyes of the media at
present those social workers working with children and families are
'damned if they do and damned if they don't' (preston-Shoot and
Agass, 1990).
Lack of care and an uncritical wish for control create a composite
picture of professional incompetence. Within the profession itself,
stress is experienced as high and the rewards few (Audit Com
mission, 1 994: para. 179), to some extent continuing the 'confusion
compounded by uncertainty' noted over a decade ago by the
Barclay Committee when reviewing the roles and tasks of social
workers (Barclay, 1 982).
A second contextual factor which adds to the confusion and

uncertainty stems from the fact that social work with children and
families is mainly located within, or funded by, local government.
Here, diminished resources and increased demand collide, and only
a skeletal version of the original post-World War II idea of welfare
services remains. Perhaps the most alarming impact on the
relationships between social workers and service users in this climate
is that the profession's capacity to care recedes while there is a
simultaneous growth in its statutory, more controlling functions.
This is illustrated in the following example.
Case example
Cathy Simms, a lone parent with three children, refers herself to the
social services department. She says to the duty social worker that
she is finding it difficult to control her lO-year-old daughter, Susan.
She describes truanting from school, Susan hitting her younger
brother and sister and having nightmares which are frequent. Susan
is occasionally enuretic. She says she wants to go and live with her
father, who left the family nine months ago. Susan's father gives no
financial support to Cathy. She says she has no money for food and
her Income Support has been spent. Fuel debts have mounted and
disconnection is threatened. She wants financial help, day care for
the younger children so that she can return to work, and someone to
'look' at her daughter's behaviour.
The social worker completes an application for day care, only to
be told by the childminding adviser that there is a long waiting list
for day-care places. Cathy agrees to a referral to the local Child
Guidance Unit (CGU) for the family to be seen in relation to
Susan's behaviour. The CGU accepts the referral on the under
standing that an appointment may be delayed by several weeks due
to staff shortages. The fuel board insists that a substantial amount
of the debt is cleared immediately before the threat of disconnection
is withdrawn. The Department of Social Security agrees to make a
lump-sum payment to the fuel board if Cathy agrees that some
money is deducted each week from her benefits until the debt is
cleared. Reluctantly Cathy accepts this, knowing that it will place a
greater pressure on the family's capacity to cope. The social worker
makes out a small grant to Cathy for food (Children Act 1989:
section 17) and promises to let her know about the day care as soon
as a place becomes available.
A week later a teacher from Susan's school contacts social
services to say that Susan has returned to school after an absence of
several days. A small circular mark, like a cigarette burn, has been
Social Work with Children and Families 85
noted on her ann. She is frightened to go home and says that her
mother is angry. A social worker visits the home and finds Cathy
agitated and verbally abusive, admitting to having hurt Susan but
saying that she can no longer tolerate her daughter's behaviour. She
says that she will hurt Susan again if she needs to, and is angry at
the unwarranted intrusion into her life only a few days after not
receiving the help that she needed. The social worker concludes that
Susan is at risk of further hann at the hands of her mother and
should not return home. In consultation with the senior social
worker an application is made to a local magistrates' court for an
Emergency Protection Order (Children Act 1 989: section 44).
Susan is placed with foster carers. The social services department
considers whether any further legal steps need to be taken to protect
the children in the family. A child protection case conference is
convened to evaluate risk to the children. Cathy is invited but does
not attend. Instead she takes her grievances against the department
to a local newspaper, which publishes another item on bureaucratic
abuse of natural justice, citing Cathy's case as an example.
In this bleak but not unfamiliar scenario a connecting pattern of
abuse emerges. Not only does the mother abuse the daughter, taking
control beyond reasonable limits, but the 'welfare' is seen to abuse
her rights as a parent in a similar manner and is in tum caricatured
and criticised by the media. It is this ebb and flow of hostile and
competitive exchanges between parents and social workers that is
presented to the outside world as standard social work practice. In
this narrow scope of analysis individuals are apportioned blame - 'a
bad parent', 'the SS worker' - while the context in which the actions
and reactions have taken place is seldom paid t� attention it
deserves. Nor for that matter is much attention given to the good
practice that continues to exist despite resource constraints and bad
press.
This chapter, in concerning itself with issues of competence,
focuses by and large not on an idealised standard of practice but on
the ways in which practitioners can achieve clarity of purpose and
consistency in offering a high-quality service to users. This is done
via identifying the importance in childcare work of being child
centred and working in partnership with carers. These principles,
spelt out directly by recent Department of Health guidance and
regulations (e.g. Department of Health, 1 990) and enshrined in the
Children Act 1989, are not new to social work, and have indeed
been infonned by practice wisdom accumulated by practitioners and
policy-makers within the profession over the last half-century (see
Jordan, 1 984). To some extent they underline a value position in the
profession of user involvement (Marsh and Fisher, 1 992) and client
empowennent (Ward and Mullender, 1991) as an active counter

point to the abuses of professional power noted by the tabloid press
and some recent inspections of services for children and families
(Social Services Inspectorate, 1 993). Here we accept the thesis that
competence lies in viewing the child as 'a person and not an object
of concern' (DHSS, 1988: 245), reflecting to a significant degree the
welfare principles set out in section 1 of the Children Act 1 989. In
fact so much of social work with children and families is now linked
to the Children Act 1 989 that it is best, in describing the duties, roles
and responsibilities of workers, to be explicit about their connections
with the legislation. In principle at least, the focus of work is on
three broad areas: first, in offering a preventative service to families
caring for vulnerable children; secondly, the investigation of hann to
children, and the use of child protection procedures; thirdly, the use
of statutory measures to remove children from home and provide
substitute care with foster parents or in residential units.
Overall the intention of the legislators has been to pick up and act
upon a number of important issues within each of these areas in
order to reinforce organisational and individual professional
competence. So, for example, prevention of family breakdown by
alleviating social and material deprivation is amplified and specified.
In child protection, emphasis is placed on working cooperatively
with adult carers where possible rather than competing with them to
care for a child. Thirdly, in relation to children being looked after
by the local authority, continuity of contact with their community of
origin is highlighted. These issues are discussed below. Connections
between the ways in which parents, social workers and others can
work together in caring for vulnerable children are made. Points at
which consensus begins to diminish and conflict arises are high
lighted.
Preventative services
The Children Act 1 989 introduced a new legislative framework for

family support, based on a duty to provide services for children in
need and their families, in order to prevent family breakdown (part
ill and schedule 2). A child is seen as being in need if, broadly
speaking,
s/he is unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of

health (physical and mental) or development (physical, intel
lectual, emotional, social or behavioural), unless the local
authority provides help in some way; or if s/he is disabled (see
section 1 7 ( 1 0)).
A substantial body of research now exists linking poverty to the risk

of children being received into the system of public care (see Audit
Commission, 1 994).
For example, Gibbons ( 1 991) confirms that families experiencing
childcare problems which had been referred to social services were
distinguishable from the general run of families along a number of
dimensions, most notably social disadvantage and deprivation,
personal vulnerability, and lack of social support. Bebbington and
Miles (1988) examined the circumstances and backgrounds of
children coming into care and found that the following
accumulation of factors increases the chances of being 'looked
after' at some time before the age of 17.
CHILD 'A ' CHILD 'B'

Aged 5 to 9 Aged 5 to 9
No dependence on state Household head gets Income
benefits Support
Two-parent family Single-adult household
Three or fewer children Four or more children
White Mixed racial origin
Owner-occupier home Privately rented home
More rooms than people One or more persons per room
Odds of being 'looked after'
1 in 7,000 I in 10
(Source: Bebbington and Miles, 1988)
Holman (1 988) is clear that in such circumstances social workers

can and should take a proactive role in alleviating poverty by
offering, as a first step in attempting to give a competent service, a
number of interventions or services, which all local authorities have
the power to provide. Some of these are listed below (although see
Brayne and Martin, 1 990 for a fuller list).
• Financial help (Children Act 1 989, section 17 (6» or 'assistance

in kind'. Generally this means that families can turn to social
services departments if they run out of money or food or
clothing for their children when the children going without these
things would endure unreasonable hardship. Payments of small
grants or loans can be made, but no family in receipt of Income
Support or Family Credit is liable for any repayment (Children
Act 1 989, section 1 7 (9» .
• The provision of advice, guidance and counselling. In their day
to-day work social workers may be asked to advise, guide and
counsel people with a variety of problems. In defining specific

areas of work under these broad headings, social workers may
directly intervene, refer on to specialist help, or work alongside
specialist workers in other professions in achieving jointly
identified goals.
Local authorities, via their social services departments (SSDs), are

encouraged to provide 'occupational, social, cultural and rec
reational activities' for children and their families. The guidance and
regulations to the Children Act 1 989, volume 2, focus on family
support and day care for young children (Department of Health,
1991d: vol. 2). Here it is suggested that if local authorities do not
already do so, a range of services should be provided in order to
prevent children coming into care. For example:
• day care offered by childminders or nurseries (which the SSD

must inspect, register and support on a regular basis);
• befriending schemes or parent and toddler groups for isolated
parents;
• toy libraries;
• drop-in centres where members of a locality can meet;
• family centres where therapeutic work can take place in
improving parenting skills;
• home helps or family aides who can offer parents practical help
in running the household, especially if a parent is ill or if a child
has disabilities which place an excessive burden of care on a
parent;
• accommodation (section 22 (2)). In many ways this is a new
and innovative provision. The Act recognises that sometimes,
perhaps for short periods, parents and children need to live apart
from each other, particularly when the situation at home reaches
a crisis point and living together may result in harm to or lack of
care for the child. Parents are encouraged to apply to local
authority SSDs for respite from their task of parenting. They can
withdraw their children from substitute care at any time they
choose under this arrangement (in previous legislation this was
not always the case, and children drifted along on a 'voluntary'
basis until further statutory action was taken by SSDs to exert
control over their lives).
Despite the legislators giving the above definition and outlining

services to meet need, Tunstill (1 992) is clear that the Act stops some
way short of compelling local authorities to work preventatively.
Considerable discretion is built into the ways in which the legislation
itself and the guidance and regulations stemming from it are
interpreted. For example, volume 2 of the Guidance and Regulations

on family support and day care states that:
This guidance does not lay down firm criteria or set general priorities
because the Act requires each authority to decide their own level and
scale of services appropriate to the children in need in their area.
(Department of Health, 1991d: para. 2.4)
And further on:

Local authorities are not expected to meet every individual need, but they
are expected to identify the extent of need and then to make decisions on
the priorities for service provision in the context of that information and
their statutory duties (Department of Health, 1991d: para. 2. 1 1).
Given this flexibility, lack of organisational competence has been

discovered by the Audit Commission (1 994) which notes, amongst
its various concerns, that little systematic identification of the extent
of relative need has taken place in Britain in the 1 990s, by either
health or social services. This has resulted in resources not being
targeted effectively, and in more generally available provisions not
being used effectively. Objectives of services are frequently vague
and outcomes unclear, often leading to reactive rather than pro
active planning and practice; working in partnership with service
users, whilst acknowledged in principle, is not fully implemented in
practice. Giller (1 993) acknowledges that agencies and workers
appear to be working at what he terms a tertiary rather than
primary level of prevention, illustrating these levels as shown in
Table 4 . 1 .
In commenting further on this division in the levels o f prevention
Rose ( 1993) notes the existence of a number of interrelated obstacles
which impede the effective development of family support services.
For example, prevention is not prioritised in relation to protection.
Responding to referrals of child abuse has become a key organising
factor of the culture of professional practice, mediated to some
extent by unfavourable media coverage. Where this type of work is
recognised as having its own validity, existing within clearer and
specific guidelines, preventative work is seen as somehow old
fashioned, not 'real work' which attracts status and power, and as
having vague aims and processes. Difficulties in evaluating its cost
effectiveness are highlighted. In a climate of financial uncertainty,
where short-term objectives take precedence over developing longer
term policies, services and strategies, it is seen as slow to build up.
Lack of workload management schemes which actively encourage
workers to balance preventative work with child protection work are
missing or sketchily addressed.
Given these types of obstacles the messages from research, which
\C
o
�
(")
is·
....
Table 4. 1 Levels of prevention �

Primary Secondary Tertiary
*
Key features
Practice ideology • developmental • welfare • judicial

g
(")
• change system rather than people • help for the client • rescue the victim �
'"
� • empowerment • assessment of need • punish the villain �

<2. a
:::r Stage of problem development • Low or containable risk • low/mediwn risk but high • chronic problems
<ii (assessment of risk and/or need) • problems common to many perceived need • high risk of harm to self
0..
(vulnerable groups) • acute crisis or early stage or other
� • citizens rather than clients of problem • high need for protection
<ii • short-term client of child
� • perception of parental
need may be low
Major unit of need • localities • nuclear family • individual family

• vulnerable groups members perceived as
problematic or in need
of rescue or protection
Principal targets of intervention • welfare institutions • family systems • personal change

• community networks • support networks
• social policy welfare institution
Objectives of intervention • reallocation of resources • enhanced family • better-adjusted, less
• redistribution of power/control functioning deviant individuals;
over resources (inc. resources of • enhanced support network self-supporting families
social work agencies) • family's increased
• increased rights for disadvantaged awareness and motivation
groups to make use of existing
resources
• welfare institutions
more responsive to
people's needs
(")
�
<'>
Dominant mode of practice • community action • generic multi-role • individual casework
� • community development practitioner • treatment or therapy §:

• community social work • social care planning
t2.
:::r- • social casework �
<D �
Q. Source: Giller, 1993 �
� s:
<D Q
� �
�
�
�
�
::::;
�.
t.o
\0
-
highli,ghts organisational and practice competence with regard to

preventative work, suggest that the provisions as outlined in the
Children Act 1 989 (see above) do significantly contribute to children
being cared for by their families of origin (see, for example,
Benzeval and Judge, 1 992; Cox et al., 1 992; Hardiker, 1992;
Holman, 1 989; Gibbons, 1 992). However, there is no simple corre
lation between availability of resources and the ways that pro
fessionals act in using them to enable families to continue caring for
their children. Rather there is evidence to suggest that, within limits,
practitioners can carry out effective preventative work within
organisations where resources are limited, as long as they can map
out the following and are as clear as possible about how to achieve
them, within the context in which they work:
• what it is they and others are seeking to prevent from happening;

• how the agreed resolutions are going to be put into effect;
• who takes appropriate responsibility, together with or separately
from others, in securing available resources or finances;
• why the map created by identifying the above is in line with the
best interests of the child within the overall framework of
prevention;
• when the aim(s) of intervention are achieved, as evidenced by
changes in people's behaviour andlor circumstances against
criteria which have been specified or modified in agreement
between the parties concerned.
Prevention is not created unilaterally by a single worker. The action

by a worker in identifying and seeking prevention is part of a
collective effort by a number of people located within the informal
and formal networks of care surrounding vulnerable children. Here
a greater degree of consensus between these people - on the
definition of need, targets of intervention and how those targets are
to be achieved within a strategically coherent framework - still
needs to be reached.
Child protection
Issues of working together are very much to the fore in investigating
and dealing with children who have been abused or neglected. In
part this is because these children form a natural sub-group of the
broader population of children in need. Also, and significantly,
public scrutiny of the lives of children who have been caught in the
net of child protection has led to the conclusion that at times
cooperation between carers and workers has been low whilst
criticism, conflict and competition have been high (Department of
Health, 1991a). Some of the tensions inherent in carers, social

workers and other professions working together are examined
below.
One aspect of this tension is the definition of abuse itself.
Determining what is and is not abusive behaviour is seldom possible
without reference to the context in which the behaviour takes place
(Department of Health, 1 995). Equally, societal perspectives of what
constitutes abusive behaviour may change over time and across
racial and cultural boundaries (parton, 1 985; Ahmad, 1 990). Some
times, perhaps on most occasions that child protection investigations
take place, it may only be possible to think about people having a
perspective on child abuse as opposed to a conclusive or unassail
able definition. Given the capacity for definitions to be influenced in
this way, competence in the workers may rest in part on their ability
to maintain a focus of concern about the severity and chronicity of
behaviours, bearing in mind that a few behaviours universally and
over time remain abusive. For example, it may be easier to develop
consensus on the notion that a carer stubbing out a cigarette on a
child repeatedly is abusive in comparison to smacking them or being
naked in their company. Shouting at a child may not in itself
constitute abuse, but over time, in a context which is low in warmth
and high on criticism of the child, it may lead to emotional harm.
Competent practice thus involves having a clear understanding of
both the point at which behaviour by a parent becomes maltreat
ment and the point at which such behaviour requires professional
intervention. In other words, the competent professional is able to
describe a threshold for intervention. Latterly in Britain such
thresholds have been set in a number of ways, for example by laying
down child protection procedures, creating categories of abuse under
which children can be registered and identifying the type and quality
of working relationships which may lead to better protection of
children.
There has been a substantial growth in the last few years in the
number of children who have been the focus of child protection
investigation and registration. For example in 1 986 there were
1 5,000 children's names on child protection registers in England and
Wales (Taylor, 1 989). The latest survey in England alone indicates
that the total had reached 38,600 by the end of 1 992 (Department of
Health, 1 993), a prevalence rate of 3 . 5 children per thousand aged
1 8 years or under. Of these, approximately 28,000 were children of
school age and 1 6,000 of them had been registered in the year
preceding the survey. There is currently a substantial amount of
research commissioned by the Department of Health which provides
an insight into children, child abuse and child protection. A recent
fairly · conservative estimate suggests that out of the 1 1 million

children living in England and Wales, about 650,000 live in an
environment which poses a risk to their health and development
(Smith and Bentovim, 1 994). About 1 90 of them die each year, and
the cause of death can reasonably be attributed to neglect or abuse
by the carer (Department of Health, 1 993). About 200,000 are
referred to child protection systems. Seventy-five per cent of these
referrals are investigated further. Whilst a minority (1 ,400) are
compulsorily removed, about 50,000 are the subject of a case
conference; 25,000 of these have their names placed on the child
protection register.
Importantly, when children are registered, a variety of factors
beyond the information relating to the child and family influence the
registration process. For example, if the ratio of social workers to
residents is low in a given locality, or if day care, family support
services or play group provisions are poor, where unemployment is
high as is the number of children within the public care system, and
when organisations have no specialist child protection posts and no
specific criteria for removing names from the register, then the rates
of registration are higher than in localities where these conditions
apply less strongly (Little and Gibbons, 1 993).
Equally important, Gibbons et al. (1 993) have identified the
following general characteristics among children and families
investigated. From a sample of nearly 2,000 cases in 1 992 in
England and Wales over one-third (36 per cent) were headed by a
lone parent, 57 per cent lacked a wage earner, 54 per cent of heads
of households were dependent on Income Support, in 27 per cent of
families domestic violence was experienced, and in 1 3 per cent
mental illness of parent was a feature. They also found that 1 5 per
cent of abusing parents had a known history of being abused as
children themselves, that 65 per cent of children investigated were
already known to social services, in 45 per cent of children
investigated a previous investigation had taken place, in 99 per cent
of cases the perpetrator was already known to the child and that 90
per cent of adults under investigation were involved in daily care of
the child. Black and Asian families were over-represented among
referrals for physical injury and under-represented for sexual abuse.
Drawing conclusions from such features and conditions in terms
of predicting child abuse remains difficult, partly because research
has yet to establish more than a lukewarm connection between the
existence of such conditions and the inevitability of harm to a child.
It is one thing to assert that the characteristics and circumstances of
children dealt with under child protection procedures differ from
those of families and children living in England and Wales as a
whole; it is quite another to say that they are typical of all families
within which children are maltreated (Mitchell, 1989). As Parton
(1 986: 525) has pointed out, 'Whatever is done prediction rates rise
no higher than two wrong judgements for every right judgement.
The empirical support for the prediction of violence is very poor.'
What does become clear however is that, by and large, social
workers are likely to focus their investigations on those who are
most vulnerable and materially disadvantaged. The implications for
competent practice may lie in recognising and assessing the degree
to which contextual factors contribute to the abusive behaviour and
the degree to which change in such circumstances is necessary and
possible, while identifying social workers' own and others' responsi
bilities as specifically as possible in relation to such change.
Parental involvement in child protection
Parents can feel overwhelmed by the process of investigation and

express alienation, anger and disempowerment about the decisions
being taken (Brazil and Steward, 1 992; Thobum et aI., 1 993). There
is a shift in the relationship between parents and social workers from
one in which the possibility of care and cooperation are excluded
and the probabilities of control and competition between them
highlighted. At least that is how it must seem to the parents involved
in the process (prosser, 1992). From a social work point of view,
investigations are reported as being stressful and anxiety-provoking
affairs (Glaser and Frosh, 1 988; Dale et aI., 1 986) where competent
practice is in jeopardy. The social workers' task is not simply to
cope with their own and other people's strong feelings but also, as
Furniss (1991) notes, to be able to:
• clarify and be specific about the reasons for concerns leading to

the investigation. They should be able to acknowledge the
strength of feeling about the process of investigation with
parents and children;
• explain their statutory responsibilities in a comprehensible way
either verbally or in writing or by using official interpreters
where necessary;
• explain the roles and duties of workers from other agencies,
where necessary;
• explore the parents' own legal rights either with regard to
making representations or complaints during the process or, for
example, in gaining access to official records made during the
course of the investigations;
• be open, honest and authoritative, particularly in stressing that

the welfare of the child is the overriding factor guiding child
protection work;
• infonn parents about what is going to happen, how long it will
take, step by step. This process of review and planning may need
to happen continuously;
• infonn parents about their attendance at case conferences and
discuss what help could be offered to them in putting their views
across. If parents will not attend, then arrangements need to be
made to have their views expressed;
• help parents articulate their own abilities and strengths and
solutions with regard to protection and care for their child.
Especially in cases of sexual abuse the non-abusing carer (often
the mother) is a vital contributor to the future safety and welfare
of the child.
Guidelines developed by a number of social services departments

remind their investigative staff that they should undertake child
protection work in partnership with parents where possible, reflect
ing the Working Together guidelines' comment that
it cannot be emphasised too strongly that involvement of children and
adults in [child protection work] will not be effective unless they are fully
involved from the outset in all stages of the process, and unless from the
time of referral there is as much openness and honesty as possible
between families and professionals. (Department of Health 1991c: 43,
para. 6. 1 1)
Thobum et al. (1 993) are clear that partnership with parents of

children is most likely to work if the following conditions prevail.
• There is a single episode of abuse.

• Neglect is an issue but not seen as premeditated.
• Sexual abuse has occurred but the perpetrator is no longer living
in the home.
• The abuse is related to a parent's episodic mental illness 'or
related to a recognised stress factor.
• The parent is not implicated in the alleged abuse or neglect.
• The parent is not under suspicion of having failed to protect the
child.
• The parent accepts that there is a problem.
• The parent and the social worker agree about the nature and
degree of the abuse/neglect.
• The parent welcomes social work help.
Conversely, partnership is hardest to establish when:
• the abuse is persistent, severe or organised and where the alleged

abuser still lives at home;
• the parent has a record of violence or threatening behaviour;
• the parent denies that abuse has taken place;
• the parent takes no responsibility for abuse or neglect;
• the parent rejects social work help;
• the parent cannot agree with the social worker on what has
happened or what to do about it.
These researchers go to some lengths to confirm that, rather like the

definition of abuse itself, partnership is not an absolute concept
which is either present or absent in effective working relationships.
Instead it is one end of a continuum, which ranges from non
involvement in the decision-making processes to carers being treated
as equal parties from the beginning to the end of the intervention.
The map they delineate above offers a competent worker the
opportunity to clarify some of the significant prevailing conditions
which allow carers and others to have a voice within the system, but
does not constitute a predictive tool in the sense of offering absolute
certainty. Competence becomes associated with using the above
findings meaningfully in a context which is inherently uncertain and
complex, where perhaps the need to be certain is high and confidence
and morale low. In our view a good measure of competence is the
worker's capacity to remain confident in dealing with uncertainty,
using available knowledge within the limits of its relevance to the
specific context in which s/he is working.
This can also be said about Farmer and Owen's (1 993) research,
which indicates that from the start of the investigative process the
potential for alienating carers and children is minimised by workers
who can name and contain feelings of competition, blame, fear,
anger and lack of trust. Commonly, carers and children express
relief at being treated kindly, where respect is maintained and the
importance of being cared for as people is emphasised. Workers are
appreciated when they do more than simply reiterate their statutory
responsibilities; where they provide clear information about pro
cesses and aims, make investigations feel less like interrogations,
involve people as fully as possible, and identify and provide
resources appropriate to a comprehensive assessment of the abusing
behaviour in context.
In a sense these findings act as guidelines in clarifying the notion
that it is not just a matter of what a competent social worker does;
importantly, it is how s/he acts that makes a difference in terms of
clients' views. This connection between the what and the how of
competence is also apparent in the arena of substitute care.
Substitute care
In the majority of cases children remain at home while services are

provided, but instances do arise where they may need to be
temporarily or permanently removed for their own safety and
protection from circumstances in which they are likely to suffer
significant harm. A child can be removed compulsorily from home
using the new legislation in a specific number of ways - by obtain
ing an Emergency Protection Order (EPO), an Interim Care Order
(lCO) or a full Care Order (CO) - although the guidance and
regulations are at pains to point out that going to court should be a
last resort, when all possible avenues of cooperative work between
carers and workers are exhausted.
The Children Act 1989 is silent on what constitutes significance
within the phrase 'significant harm' and no one is yet certain how
the courts will interpret its meaning. What is clear is that harm is
defined, as Allen (1990: 1 09) explains, in these terms:
Dl-treatment or impairment of health and development [section 31 (9)].

The interpretation of significant turns on the child's health or develop
ment being compared with that which could reasonably be expected of a
similar child (i.e. of the same age, characteristics etc.).
If an application for an order is made by the social services depart

ment or other parties the court is duty bound within the framework
of the Act to ask itself whether making an order is the only way to
deal with the child's best interests, or indeed whether judicial
intervention is necessary at all. The Children Act 1 989 puts it thus
(section 1 (1)):
When a court determines any question with respect to the upbringing of a

child, the child's welfare shall be the court's paramount consideration.
The idea here is that the court should remain child centred, acting,
as it were, as the ultimate good parent in settling issues others may
have competed over and failed to agree on. As such it would be
reasonable to expect the court to scrutinise very carefully how child
centred the parties represented in the case are or are prepared to be.
The court would consider the following factors when making its
decision about granting an order of whatever type; this is referred to
as the welfare checklist:
A The ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned
(considered in the light of his/her age and understanding).
B His/her physical, emotional and educational needs.
C The likely effect on him/her of any changes in circumstances.
D His/her age, sex, background and any characteristic of his[/hers]
which the court considers relevant.
E Any harm which slhe has suffered or is at risk of suffering.

F How capable each of hislher parents, and any other persons in
relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is
on meeting hislher needs.
G The range of powers available to the court under the 1989 Act in the
proceedings in question. (section 1 (3))
Allen ( 1990) comments that the checklist is not particularly novel in

that it is modelled on principles existing in previous legislation and
current ideas about competent social work practice. In demon
strating competence in court, social workers will need to show to the
court's satisfaction that the above factors have been attended to in
their preparation for applications which are being considered. They
will ordinarily be expected to show what they have attempted to do
in terms of the presenting issues on a voluntary basis with carers,
how they have attempted to work in partnership, why this has not
been possible, and the likely effect on the child of a court order not
being made. They should also have discussed the implications of
their actions fully with all relevant parties.
Research into the experiences of children entering the care system,
summarised in Patterns and Outcomes in Child Placement (Depart
ment of Health, 1 99 1 b) has highlighted the significance of their
maintaining contact with their natural families and communities of
origin (Millham et aI., 1 986: Packman et al., 1 986) while in sub
stitute care. Other research has reinforced the message that children
in need of care are not necessarily characteristically children whose
parents were abusive or neglectful (Rowe et aI., 1 989). Rather it has
confirmed a strong link between admissions and material crises
(precipitated by homelessness, unemployment, financial debt) or
behavioural problems, with parents motivated by their children's
welfare and social workers responding in a supportive manner by
negotiation and agreement.
Continuity of contact at a time of necessary change has been
addressed by the new legislation. For example the 1 989 Act
encourages the placement of a child with a person connected with
that child: a family member or relative or other suitable persons
(section 23 (6)); it states that the accommodation offered should be,
so far as is reasonably practicable and consistent with the child's
welfare, near the child's home and that siblings should be accom
modated together (section 23 (7)). If a child has disabilities,
arrangements need to be made to offer suitable accommodation.
Similarly, due consideration needs to be given to how best a child's
needs are to be met in relation to religion, race, culture and
language (section 22) when finding a suitable placement.
There is explicit recognition that competent social work practice
involves continued consideration, via regular reviews of children in

care, of the possibility of returning home. So once a child is in care
no matter for what length of time (for up to eight days with an
Emergency Protection Order, or up to 1 8 years of age with a Care
Order) contact with parents or those with parental responsibilities
should whenever possible continue unless clear evidence emerges
that this is detrimental to the child's well-being. The hasty removal
of children by social workers to the care of people whom they do
not know, living in an area which is unfamiliar to them, ought to
become a thing of the past used knowingly and justifiably only when
circumstances dictate that this course of action is necessary.
There is also a recognition of something that social workers and
many parents have been aware of for some time - that the trauma
of enforced separation, no matter how dire the circumstances from
which a child is removed, can worry and preoccupy children in a
way which undermines their ability and educational potential.
Similarly, moving children frequently from one placement to
another leads to their becoming disruptive and hard to care for. The
regulations require local authorities to carry out a number of tasks.
These are:
1 Notify the local education authority if a child is based in its area.

2 Recognise that a school needs to have as much information as
possible about the child prior to his or her starting with them.
3 If a child is looked after by substitute carers then it is the social
worker's responsibility to initiate contact between them and the
school if it does not already exist.
4 The social worker should monitor the child's educational
progress and general welfare by maintaining direct contact with
the school, the carers, and via school reports sent to the carers.
The social worker should be clear about access to specialist
services within the local authority'S educational provisions in
order to enlist their help whenever necessary on behalf of the
child.
5 The natural parents may themselves wish to contact the school
or continue to play some part in the child's education. The social
worker should work with the school and parent in establishing
what this means in practice.
6 The social worker should help the parents exercise their rights
under the statementing process.
Residential workers in children's homes are reminded of their

responsibilities in providing support and encouragement beyond that
which may be given by a caring parent (Department of Health,
1 99 1 e:23) to the people in their care. What the guidance and
regulations d o not comment on - and arguably this i s beyond their

remit - is that the conflicts and contradictions that have already
been discussed in relation to parents, teachers and social workers
and those inherent within the legislative framework can and do draw
in foster carers and residential workers. Robinson (1978) and the
Barclay Report (1982) both note that social workers should actively
support substitute carers in their difficult task of helping children in
need. Yet in many respects support may not be a straightforward
process. Substitute carers, in building attachments to children, may
compete with social workers in owning or disowning them. Like
social workers they may pay more attention to the care-giving and
domestic tasks on behalf of a child than to the child's educational
attainments (prosser, 1 978). It may be difficult for them to move
away from being home-centred people or, as Jackson (1 989: 141)
argues, to 'offer much intellectual stimulation . . . or deal effectively
with schools and teachers'. Berridge ( 1 985:96) paints a graphic
picture of the child coming home from school bursting to recount
the day's events, 'only to find adult attention firmly focused on the
chip pan and the frozen fish fingers'.
Bald (1982) describes how hard it is to persuade care staff to
devote ten minutes a day to helping children with their reading.
Millham et al. (1 986) note how few substitute carers have themselves
had satisfactory or successful experiences of education. Jackson
( 1 989: 1 42) summarises the context thus:
In these circumstances it is hardly surprising that staff may have difficulty

in relating to school teachers or in asserting their own judgement of a
child's ability and needs in the face of a presumed expert. In addition
they may be inclined to play down the importance of school attendance
and gloss over difficulties, not expecting that the children in their charge
will do any better than themselves.
Given these circumstances, specialist help may need to be made

available to children in care in order to improve their educational
abilities. Jackson (1989) describes a successful effort in inter-pro
fessional cooperation - the recruitment by a residential home of an
educational liaison officer, a former teacher with intimate knowledge
of local schools. Jackson ( 1 989: 148) goes on to add:
her main task was to act as an intermediary and interpreter between care
staff, children and teachers. In this her activities were similar to those
which any concerned parent would take in support of their own children,
with the difference that for children in residential care from disturbed
backgrounds the monitoring and intervention required are almost
continuous . . . . One measure of her success was the fact that no child
had been suspended from school since her appointment, something which
had previously been an almost weekly occurrence. . . . As a teacher
herself she was equally concerned with matters of academic achievement.

. . . This transformed the children's feelings about going to school,
knowing that they could hand in acceptable pieces of work.
This type of innovative work is unusual, because extra funds need to

be made available in order to sustain it. A more familiar scenario at
present is that foster carers and residential workers continue to feel
undervalued and underpaid. For example the National Foster Care
Association has drawn attention to the fact that foster parents
looking after a young child are usually paid less than the weekly
cost of kennelling a dog (NFCA, 1992). In substitute care, as much
as in preventative work and in the protection of children from harm,
issues of quality and quantity and care and control go hand in hand.
One conclusion that emerges is that the quality of care provided
for children in need depends, to perhaps a substantial extent, not
simply on workers and others following guidance and regulations as
laid down by the Department of Health, but also on an increase in
the provision of financial and material resources. In other words,
professional competence in substitute care, as in other areas of social
work with children and families, connects with and is mitigated by
the context in which it is located.
Looking to the future
Considering what lies ahead in social work with children and

families, there is a growing sense of the profession going back to the
future. On the one hand the Children Act 1 989 is clearly modelled
on egalitarian principles, confirming notions of working in partner
ship with carers and emphasising the need to maintain children with
their families. On the other hand increasing demand in relation to
available resources since the late 1970s has resulted in the safety net
of welfare provisions looking threadbare. The ends defined within
the Children Act, which, as we have noted, reinforce the notion of
professionally competent behaviour, may not be easy to achieve
given the means available to social workers. Given this mismatch
between principles and reality, some uncertainties arise for and
within the profession in the future.
Two questions remain difficult to answer. First, how well will
social workers provide the services necessary, as defined in the
Children Act, to promote the notion of families caring for their own
children? Secondly, how well will social workers feel cared for by
those who define what they should do?
There is after all a parallel between the ways in which social
workers work with families, and the ways in which they feel
Social Work with Children and Families 1 03
supported by the state in the fonnulation of social policy and

legislation. We could pursue Gibbons's (1992:3) definition of good
parenting - 'predictable, available, sensitive and responsive care
taking within a structured and responsive home environment' - and
seek to apply it to the profession's relationship with the state. Here,
it may be argued, the state's lack of consistency and clarity in the
provision of welfare has resulted, in part at least, in a failure in its
role as parens patriae. This in tum has led to confusion and
uncertainty within social work about how best to be a good enough
carer to those in need, and jeopardised the notion of competence.
The recipients of services would confinn that they have at times felt
the profession to be abusive of its responsibilities (prosser, 1 992).
Whilst all three parties - parents, professionals and policy-makers
- may continue to argue that they have the best interests of children
at heart, their arguing may disguise the complex nature of their
responsibilities towards children in need and the gaps that exist
between what they say ought to be done and how they end up doing
it. Dissonance may continue to exist. For social workers, part of the
challenge of maintaining competent practice may lie in recognising
the source and impact of such dissonance on their capacities to
remain balanced, available, sensitive and responsive in helping
children and families in need.
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5
Community Care and Social Work with Adults
This chapter covers the concept of work with 'adults' and the
historical context of discrimination against them; the background to
community care and the role of social work within this. It considers
the effects of the discordant blends of knowledge and skills brought
to this area of work, and care management as a needs-led process of
assessment and planning. At the same time, user involvement is
explored within the context of 'partnership' as a means of working
towards empowering users (issues relating to liberty and protection);
and the disability movement's view of community care is also
discussed. Following from that, some of the general skills and
knowledge needed for work with 'adults' are referred to, and the
role of the approved social worker and the appropriate interview in
relation to work with people in mental distress is discussed as a
'blueprint' for all work with 'adults'. Finally, efforts to offer
alternatives to compulsion under the law for people experiencing
mental distress are covered and issues relating to 'adult'/elder abuse
are critically examined.
The historical context of discrimination and the concept of

work with 'adults'
While the legal definition of 'adult' varies from 1 6 to 2 1 years

depending on the issue under consideration, many people can be
regarded as an adult in law, without being afforded the privilege of
being treated as one.
Adults with learning and physical disabilities, mental distress and
older people frequently are regarded or treated as children; are
denied the ability to take control of their own lives; are excluded
from major decision-making processes on an individual, institutional
and structural level; infantilised by a society which often sees and
treats them as being in need of protection, yet denies them equal
access to education, employment, leisure and so on.
While different societies and cultures have differing attitudes to
mental health, disability and age, examples of discrimination can be
found in all parts of the world and over many centuries (see, for
instance, Morris, 1 99 1). In Britain this is evidenced by the abuses
Community Care and Social Work with Adults 107
experienced by many of those housed in the original asylums, large

hospitals, workhouses and other institutions which were still in
widespread use earlier this century (Goffman, 1961; Morris, 1 99 1).
The offensive language in popular use relating to disability, mental
distress and ageing, often based on negative assumptions and
stereotypes, points to the powerful and deeply entrenched nature of
this continuing discrimination.
There are various theoretical explanations relating to the source of
this discrimination (Davies, 1982; Fanon, 1967; Morris, 1 99 1 ;
Tinker, 1984). The denial of basic human rights to people who
through ignorance or prejudice are perceived and stereotyped as
'different' or 'dangerous' is familiar in relation to discrimination
applied to other minority groups. The value judgements brought to
bear on these differences are the problem: racism, sexism, disablism,
homo-hatred, ageism and classism are all prime examples of this,
. and when combinations of these discriminations are operating
together, individuals' experience of oppression is compounded.
Adult experiences may include illness, disability, mental distress,
poverty, or other forms of oppression mentioned above. Any or all
of these may be relevant at that time to our involvement as social
workers (Morris, 1 99 1).
Although pockets of good practice have always existed, it seems
likely that the level of discrimination and lack of value society
attaches to adults in need of support is reflected in, and accounts
for, generally poor practice in this area.
Research indicates that work with adults attracts fewer qualified
social workers, who receive lower status, lower pay and are likely to
receive less training than their peers (Oliver, 1 993; Tinker, 1 984).
The 'canteen culture' of social work itself offers the unstated, and
sometimes stated, view that 'real' social work happens with children
and families, and that anyone choosing to work with adults (with
the possible exception of mental health) does so because they are
somewhat lacking in skills. Conversely, if workers are perceived to
be skilled and competent, if they are working with adults the
implication is that this is a waste of training and expertise. However,
the major recent changes in legislation (e.g. the National Health
Service and Community Care Act 1 990) have led to changes in work
with adults, and will hopefully lead to changes in overall attitudes.
Work with adults can be seen as a de-stigmatising process which
brings together the areas of disability, mental health and ageing.
When we refer to people as 'adults in need of support' rather than
people who are learning or physically disabled, mentally ill or
ageing, we begin from the principle that they are individuals in their
own right. Acknowledging people's ability and right to define
themselves as they choose is fundamental to respecting them as

individuals. Similarly, given that language is dynamic, holding
different meanings for different people in different contexts,
listening, seeking agreement and shared understanding is central to
setting the tone and expectation of working alongside people.
Since local authorities cannot provide services without statutory
requirement, we need to be clear about to whom the legislation
applies. However, categorising individuals in relation to their dis
ability or age can have negative and damaging consequences. Local
authorities attempting to offer a more focused service through
specialist divisions run the risk of compounding this labelling
process, and knowledge of the power of labels and the consequent
effect on normal social relationships is essential (see, for instance,
Becker, 1 963; Downes and Rock, 1988; Smith, 1995; Laing, 1967).
An understanding of anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory ways
of working, a commitment to social justice and social welfare to
enhance the quality of people's lives and to repudiate all forms of
negative discrimination is essential (CCETSW, 1 99 1 , 1 995). Valuing
individuals' rights to dignity, respect, privacy, confidentiality, choice
and protection from abuse and exploitation is also integral to the
aims of community care.
The background to community care

Since the 1950s there have been various attempts by successive
governments towards community care. This was due to numerous
factors, including exposure of abuse in all areas of care for adults;
economic considerations; developments in pharmacology; and an
increasing understanding of the impacts of institutionalisation.
The National Assistance Act 1 948, and the Chronically Sick and
Disabled Persons Act 1 970 (CSDPA) arising from the Seebohm
Report (Department of Health and Social Security, 1968) were the
main legislative influences relating to social work with adults. These
concentrated on the local authority's duty to assess and provide
those eligible with services. Oliver (1993 : 1 29) argues that Seebohm
did not create generic departments but specialist childcare ones,
where the needs of children were met by trained professionals and
other needs and obligations were met by unqualified staff, welfare
assistants and the like.
Fourteen years later the Barclay Committee (Barclay, 1 982)
discovered that children and families work was proportionately
allocated more to senior and qualified social workers, while un
qualified, inexperienced or assistant social workers took on the work
with adults (Oliver, 1 993). Work with adults often tended to be of a
Community Care and Social Work with Adults 1 09
crisis intervention nature, that is to say when an elderly person,

previously offered little or no support, was in need of residential
care and was considered to be at crisis point.
Social workers have consistently been criticised for the inadequate
service they offer to adults. Oliver ( 1 993 : 1 4) writes thus:
Social workers' failure to develop an adequate theoretical and practical

base for their interventions has led to criticisms, notably by disabled
people themselves, who have accused social workers of ignorance about
handicapping conditions, benefits and rights, failing to recognise the need
for practical assistance as well as verbal advice and to involve disabled
people in the training process.
Local authorities have always produced their own policies and

procedures in an attempt to offer consistent standards of work to
meet their statutory duties. However, the piecemeal historical
development of the law relating to adults has not given this area of
social work the overall structure it needs.
Although there has been development of policy and good practice
in some areas, other areas of work, for instance that relating to
sexuality and sexual identity, have often been ignored or tabooed in
social work, particularly in work with adults with learning dis
abilities. Ageism, disablism, sexism and homo-hatred all have played
their role in enabling the denial or avoidance of these issues; and if
adults are regarded as having a sexual identity at all, it is generally
assumed to be heterosexual.
The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1 990
introduced major changes to the way health and social services work
with adults, and to the organisational, philosophical and funding
structures underpinning the delivery of services to those who need
them. In addition, the government's expectations regarding this
law's implementation have been backed by serious financial
penalties if local authorities do not comply.
Community care
The law relating to adults has developed in a 'higgledy piggledy

way, producing overlaps between legislation' (Fishwick, 1 992: 1 03).
However, the National Health Service and Community Care Act
1 990 and its guidelines largely encapsulate the government's
approach towards adults in need of support. The government's
position is well presented in the Department of Health's Caring for
People (1 989: 1 01):
Many people need some extra help and support at some stage in their
lives as a result of illness or temporary disability. Some people as a result
of the effects of old age, of mental illness including dementia, of mental

handicap or physical disability or sensory impairment, have continuing
need for care on a longer term basis. People with drug and alcohol
related disorders, people with multiple handicaps and people with
progressive illnesses such as A.I.D.S or multiple sclerosis may also need
community care at some time.
Community care's main aims are to enable people to live as inde

pendently, and for as long as possible, in the community with
maximum control and choice over their lives. This is to be provided
through a range of flexible services, which respond, with minimum
intrusion, to those individuals and their carers who are in most
need.
The development of a range of independent sector support
services alongside good-quality public resources, which offer tax
payers choice and better value for money, are key objectives
(Department of Health, 1 989). While this has led to the creation of
many innovative services, without effective mechanisms to collate
and distribute this information they are likely to remain as local
initiatives only.
Agencies are to be clearly accountable for their performance.
Local authorities have duties to publish community care plans and
information about services, eligibility criteria and complaints pro
cedures. At the same time they are to establish registration and
inspection units for their own and independent sector residential
units and to consult with service users, their carers and the
community, regarding their needs.
Many might argue community care merely formalises what was
previously good practice, though that may have been the exception
rather than the rule. Community care does offer a clear, legally
binding and consistent framework, which attempts to standardise
the approach to work with adults. Nevertheless, there are many
inconsistencies in the law's implementation, and it has been criticised
for its loose, flexible requirements compared with those of the
Children Act 1 989 (Haslett, 1 991). Practice and service standards
vary, compounded by local authorities' differing budgetary con
straints, which potentially affect staffing levels, the qUality of
assessments, user choice and the levels of eligibility criteria in
operation.
Scepticism is common regarding the 'real', as opposed to the
political, agenda of community care as a cheap option, inadequately
funded and placing the onus on informal carers - families, friends,
neighbours and particularly women (Finch and Groves, 1983).
Indeed, this political agenda - which exploits the ideological desir
ability of community care but starves community agencies and
providers of adequate resources - has been the main and most

consistent focus of criticism of the policy. See, for example, the main
concerns of the Griffiths Report (Griffiths, 1988). Consequently,
front-line staff are placed in the position of refusing services to those
in need, which runs counter to the values of social work.
Stevenson and Parsloe (1 993:6) highlight some of the ideological
confusions of community care, including the expectation that
families care for their own as well as their neighbours; the message
from the government to the independent sector to create wealth yet
provide voluntary services; the notion to free citizens from inter
ference by the state, yet that vulnerable adults must be protected;
the importance that users have choice, yet must have their needs
assessed by the local authority: carers' and users' needs are to be
assessed, yet the possibility of conflict between those needs is rarely
addressed in the accompanying guidance relating to COmInunity
care.
Stevenson and Parsloe (1993:32) also suggest that local admin
istrative procedures could deny the proper fulfilment of the assess
ment process to the detriment of both workers and users. They
argue that bureaucratic over-regulation could jeopardise effective
application of legislation and ultimately lead to disempowerment of
workers and users.
But more serious than that, there is evidence to suggest that social
work agencies and practitioners are still struggling to come to terms
with the implementation of the Act. For example Smale et al.
(1 993:2) point out the pressing ideological and practical tasks
currently facing social work, arguing that:
To empower users, carers and the older people they work with and to
respond to the unique circumstances that confront them on a day to day
basis, professionals have to reinvent their practice and their perception of
particular problems and solutions they find themselves in.
A distinction between the roles of purchasers and paid providers of

care is also central to the philosophy of objective assessments of
need. Care management is envisaged as a 'brokerage' role, selecting
the best from a range of services to meet the individuals' needs most
appropriately. However, the Department of Health and Social
Services Inspectorate (SSI) does not preclude care managers from
undertaking direct work with users to meet an identified need. As a
result some local authorities have chosen to interpret care manage
ment and social work separately while others incorporate those tasks
into the care management role.
Social work as a direct service provider
Many local authorities responded to the demands of community

care and the Children Act 1 989 by reorganising from generic to
specialist divisions.
As suggested elsewhere (cf. Smale et ai., 1993; Vass and Taylor,
1 995) social workers' experience of this process has been quite
difficult if not dramatic. One of the hardest transitions for social
workers working with adults to make is that from of 'doing social
work' to 'doing care management'. Many workers and service users
are unclear about the differences involved and the confusion is
compounded by the difficulty experienced at management level as to
which direction to follow and how that direction may be adequately
financed. Workers find this experience de-skilling, fearing that the
expertise they needed as social workers will not be used in a short
term purchasing role and will be lost. They feel that the number and
pressure of referrals to teams, which are far more than originally
envisaged, will lead towards a conveyor-belt style of working and
will affect the quality of service offered.
Many fear the care management role will preclude opportunities
for longer-term work with people, from which they feel they had
previously gained job satisfaction. However, it has become evident
that, where an individual's needs are complex and frequently
changing, care management will involve longer-term intervention.
Care management can involve co-working, individually allocated,
and duty and crisis intervention work, while regular reviews offer an
opportunity for a consistent and continuing role for social workers.
Care management is a complex and demanding area of work for
which the skills, knowledge and value base of social work are ideally
suited, as Chapter 2 on values has cogently argued. In the role of
care manager, the social worker is to purchase and arrange appro
priate services to meet assessed needs. The care plan might involve
family work, counselling and so forth, which may or may not be
provided by the care manager. Where there is no provision for the
social work task to be undertaken separately many care managers
may find themselves having to incorporate this into their work.
The role of social work as a direct provider is indispensable if it is
to offer the full range of resources to adults to meet their needs
adequately. This can and will be provided in a range of settings
including residential, group living, day care, community, hospital
and fieldwork, and can be achieved through multi-disciplinary or
central social work teams, or bought in from specialist independent
sector organisations. This last option, which is the least used so far,
could arguably be the most appropriate for the future direction of
social work with adults, as it is more likely to be able to provide a

flexible and empowering service. Organisations set up and run by
service users themselves have an essential contribution and role in
relation to needs-led assessment and care planning. Some organis
ations have also produced their own guidance for good practice in
relation to community care (see for instance Centre for Policy on
Ageing, 1 990).
Discordant blends of knowledge, skills and values involved in

social work with adults
The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1 990

outlines the approach both the health and social services must take
to working with adults in need of support and services (Department
of Health, 1 989). The rationale behind joining together these
disciplines is to create an opportunity to streamline services, avoid
duplication of roles and create a more flexible, efficient and
'seamless' service for users.
Housing, education, leisure, benefits agencies, the police, volun
tary, private and community organisations and networks have key
roles to play, and need to adopt a coherent and cooperative way of
working together to ensure that community care achieves its stated
goals. Of course, this inter-agency aspect is not without problems. It
is often difficult for diverse agencies to co-work due to severe rifts in
ideologies and missions, as well as because they are all competing in
the economy for resources (see, for example, Smith, 1995: ch.5; Vass
1990:73-6; May and Vass, 1996: ch. 1 0).
Notwithstanding these difficulties, workers will need to be able to
'manage the involvement, contribution, co-operation and partner
ship between the Local Authority and other authorities and
professionals involved in providing services' (Department of Health,
1 989: 1 9). The government's view is that a range of professionals
including social workers, home care organisers and community
nurses (because of their regular contact with users) will be par
ticularly suited to care management (Department of Health, 1 989).
This brings together very different knowledge, skills and value bases
from health and social services approaches. Since the experience and
training undertaken by nurses, social workers and home care
workers varies tremendously, inter-agency work will be lacking in
some areas for some workers, and an ability to transfer appropriate
knowledge and skills to new situations will be essential.
A multi-disciplinary, inter-agency approach offers a wealth of
shared knowledge, skills and expertise but can present difficulties of
an organisational and operational type (Department of Health,
1 99 1a, 1 99 1 b). Clear strategic planning by local and health

authorities is needed and workers must be able to operate effectively
within these structures. 'Locality meetings', where workers link and
meet regularly with local clinics, general practitioners' surgeries or
other local community resources, offer examples of how good
liaison and shared understanding towards a more efficient and
seamless service can be established.
The government acknowledges the need for the tralmng and
retraining of all staff involved in community care in order to
standardise the quality of practice and services. The new Diploma in
Social Work (CCETSW, 1 99 1 , 1 995) and National Vocational
Qualification (NVQ) initiatives for social care staff are a case in
point. However, there has been much debate about whether some
NVQs go far enough in preparing workers adequately for the work
they will be undertaking.
Given the range of skills, knowledge and values brought to work
with adults it is even more essential that there are agreed com
petences for this work, though the real danger here is that
competences can become, if not checked, as we have argued in the
introduction and final chapter in this volume, convenient 'shopping
lists' which are equally and conveniently ticked off without the
workers demonstrating any clear intellectual and practical skills in
delivering services.
Care management as a needs-led process of assese

sm nt and
care-planning
Community care legislation focuses on the principle of a needs-led

rather than a service-led response to work with adults. Assessment is
that of an individual's needs, and care management is the process of
tailoring services to individual needs.
The Department of Health outlines seven 'core tasks' to clearly
structure the process of care management: this constitutes a major
step towards an agreed approach and competence in work with
adults:
• publishing information about the assistance which is available

for certain needs;
• determining the level of assessment by making an initial
identification of need and matching it to the appropriate level of
assessment;
• assessing need, relating this to agency policies and priorities,
agreeing the objectives identified, and incorporating these into a
'care plan';
• implementing the care plan by securing the necessary services or

resources;
• monitoring by the continuous support and control of the imple
mentation of the care plan;
• reviewing by reassessing the needs and outcomes of the services
with a view to revising the care plan, if appropriate, at specified
intervals. (Department of Health, 1991b: 1 l - 1 2).
There are difficulties relating to how far it is possible to achieve a

truly needs-led assessment and care planning process, as well as
serious criticism of the factors limiting its realisation.
A fundamental conflict exists between community care's aim to
promote independence and individuals' control over their own lives
on the one hand, and the maintenance of assessment, definition of
needs and access to services under local authority control or
direction on the other (Morris, 1 993; Oliver, 1993; Stevenson and
Parsloe, 1 993).
Arguably, the only truly needs-led process would be that of users
identifying their own needs, and being given cash to meet these as
they wish (Morris, 1993; Oliver, 1993), though even this model
assumes that all people are rational or capable of making the right
choices. While viewing self-assessment as an ideal, there is concern
that given finite resources this would lead to unrealistic expectations,
resulting in local authorities being taken to court over unmet need,
with the most powerful users getting the most resources. How real
needs-led provision of services can be against the existing back
ground of budgetary, resource and organisational constraints is a
matter of conjecture. Nonetheless, while in the longer term this is a
civil rights issue, given the parameters, we can try to work towards
making the assessment and care planning process as empowering as
possible.
It is essential to separate the process of assessment of need from
that of service planning to meet those needs. This is particularly
difficult, if not impossible, when the worker undertaking the
assessment also holds the budget for services. Yet separating the two
roles to aid a more objective assessment raises different issues in
relation to the numbers of workers, intrusion and continuity
involved for the user.
The ability to facilitate people in identifying their own needs,
wants and choices, is particularly important if people have been
denied or discouraged from this in the past. If users have previously
experienced discrimination or negative responses from workers, they
may have very low expectations or fear losing what services they do
receive, if they make too many demands (Morris, 1 993).
People may request a service, for instance a day centre, because

that is their experience or knowledge of what social services
traditionally provide, not necessarily because that is the service they
need. Users should be enabled to explore what it is about that
service they feel comfortable with or require, and be given the
relevant information they need to make informed decisions.
While we must respect a person's right not to explore this further,
in certain situations this right may have to be balanced against their
own or others' well-being and safety and in relation to the agencies'
legal responsibilities. Sensitively overcoming barriers to clear com
munication, which may include issues around language, learning,
speech, culture, gender, class and so forth, is essential to working in
partnership in an empowering way (Smale et aI., 1 993). Workers will
need to consider if they are the most appropriate people to under
take the work, and whether an independent advocate, or other
person close to the user is needed. Good interpersonal, engagement
and counselling skills (Egan, 1 986) and the ability to build trusting
relationships quickly are important.
Gathering and evaluating information relevant to an holistic
assessment of needs must take account of an individual within the
unique context of their complete life experience. In addition to those
areas already mentioned this should include their family, community
or other support networks; education; employment; leisure; physical
and mental well-being; housing; and financial situation.
A client-centred approach, informed by anti-discriminatory prac
tice, and an awareness of the possible pressures, differing agendas
and needs of those involved, and of the impact these may have on
the user themselves, is essential. An obvious example might be a
request to place an older person in a home for their own safety.
Workers need to be aware of, and sensitive to, the role, involve
ment, stresses and separate needs of those close to the user. Whilst
an individual may be in the role of carer this may not be through
choice but through lack of alternatives and may not be appropriate.
Users and their carers may have conflicting needs, views or wishes,
and workers must be able to use the basic knowledge and skills
referred to in previous chapters in order to work sensitively and
competently in this area. It may also be appropriate to offer a carer
an assessment in their own right which might best be undertaken by
another worker, or indeed another agency.
A needs-led care-planning process must take account of the
individual requirements of a person in relation to the service
provided. For example, someone needing assistance to wash and
dress in the mornings should be helped to identify how and by
whom that service should be provided. It may not be possible to
meet these needs precisely because the service is unavailable or the

eligibility criteria exclude the person, or there is no budget available,
and workers must be aware of their agencies' policies and criteria
relating to access to services, the identification and recording of
'unmet need', and its political and legal implications. This, and a
good knowledge of existing resources, Qffers workers a key role in
identifying gaps in provision, and in its future planning and
development.
An innovative approach to negotiating, planning and arranging
flexible, cost-effective services is essential. Skills required for needs
led service planning include budgeting, contracting and service
specification; quality assurance and control; and an understanding of
the factors and impact of economic, political, racial, social and
cultural issues in the context of service delivery.
Users may be limited in their opportunities to monitor or feed
back any difficulties relating to their care plan, and may not be able
to rely on anyone else to do this for them - for instance when a
person is confused or has short-term memory loss. A range of
working methods may be useful here, including the involvement of
those close to the person; the use of advocates; 'spot' visits and
telephone calls; and mechanisms to record visits or contact by those
involved. These methods, underpinned by an awareness of con
fidentiality issues, and a sensitivity towards the user's right to
privacy, should always be founded on clear agreements between the
user and all those involved.
User involvement and the concept of partnersbip and

empowerment
The central principle of community care is that if assessment, care
management and services are to meet the needs of adults using
them, then users must be fully involved and consulted, throughout
the process, both on an individual and on a strategic planning level
(Donlan, 1993).
Workers have an important role in supporting and being involved
in user forums and regular community-based meetings; they have a
responsibility to promote good working links with voluntary and
user-led organisations, advocacy initiatives and carer centres. The
gist of all this is to enable users to participate fully and give regular
feedback. Working in partnership with users is essential towards this
end and community social work approaches encapsulate many
useful ways of working in this area.
Whilst people now have right of access to their files, a more
proactive approach, for instance recording information with and in
front of users, would be helpful in demystifying the process and

allowing users to 'own' the content. An open and honest approach,
particularly when people may be suspicious or fearful of social work
intentions or motives, combined with an awareness of the possible
communication needs of service users, is important.
But involving users goes beyond mere contact and openness. The
relationship should also be at a practical level whereby users are
encouraged and enabled to be involved in securing appropriate
resources: for instance in drawing up job descriptions and inter
viewing their own personal assistants; and in defining the standards
and measures of the success of those services secured, so that they
can actively contribute their views and criticisms. What this means is
that the review process · must be responsive to the dynamic nature of
people's lives and its effectiveness will relate directly to the quality
and level of involvement of the users in the assessment, care
planning and monitoring process. Indeed, it has to be emphasised
that within community care local authorities are perceived as
enablers, delivering services in conjunction with people rather than to
them, which is the essence of the partnership relationship.
Despite that partnership relationship and the goal of achieving it,
partnerships will always involve power differentials. It is important
to be realistic and to acknowledge the barriers to a truly equal
partnership with users, and to explore as well as, in many instances,
accept the power service purchasers and providers have in
legislative, organisational and social terms. As Wertheimer (1993 : 1 3)
puts it:
power is something you recognise when you haven't got it. I suspect most
users have a very vivid sense of what it is like to lack power. I suggest
that it's something which people working in services tend not even to
think about. . . . Its existence is demonstrated when people feel it's unsafe
to criticise services because they might lose the support they get, however
unsatisfactory that is. Power is inherent in the fact that services often do
things to or for people, not with them. Maybe this is something
individual staff need to address for themselves? Where and in what ways
do I exercise power over people?
Working in partnership involves at some crucial stage negotiating

and redistributing power if that partnership is indeed a working
relationship. That means, at some stage, giving up an 'all encom
passing expert role' (Smale et al., 1 993) and making efforts to allow
users to define and promote their own understanding, views and
action plans in consideration. In toto, workers must actively share
thoughts and ideas and listen to others' points of view rather than
just do as they themselves define a situation or simply as they feel
expected to do (Stevenson and Parsloe, 1 993).
Assessments which are undertaken as a one-way process of

information gathering by the worker are disempowering for users
and often may result in a superficial and oversimplistic identification
of their needs. Smale et al. (1 993) highlight the benefits of work with
users which involves an exchange of information, sharing percep
tions of situations, problems and solutions and which offers a more
empowering approach. Similarly, in service provision, providing
support to enable users to do their own shopping, for example, is
likely to empower them more than arranging for this to be done for
them.
Iveson's ( 1990) work with older people and their families suggests
that a good basis for empowering practice with all adults is a client
centred and anti-discriminatory approach which assumes older
people have a responsible and actively influential role in the rela
tionships and situations in which they are involved and are able to
exercise choices. He notes that 'There is no way of knowing that all
people retain the capacity to choose, but believing that they do leads
to one sort of behaviour and believing that they don't leads to
another' (Iveson, 1 990: 1 5).
Many of the adults with whom social workers work will have a
common experience of disempowerment, given that they often
experience discrimination and oppression. W orleing in ways that
attempt to empower users as far as possible is key in trying to
redress this. Stevenson and Parsloe (1 993:4) have noted that 'Whilst
equality is not synonymous with empowerment, they are profoundly
connected.' Having said that, it is important to acknowledge that
the relationship between equality and empowerment is a very
complicated one and that the concept of 'power' or 'empowerment'
can be very elusive and may mean different things to different
people. There is a fundamental conflict between independence and
protection, empowerment and individual choice.
Social workers' powers derive from statute, and while the values
that underpin their work are indeed those of maximising individuals'
empowerment, independence and control over their own lives social
workers are also, as Fishwick (1 992:8) points out: 'the means by
which society manages deviance from what are assumed to be
agreed norms of behaviour. Such professionals find themselves,
therefore, with caring and controlling functions, and constantly
operating between individuals' needs and society's needs.' Given the
range of powers by which people's liberty can be restricted or
removed, it is essential that workers use these constructively, and are
able to protect users' rights where necessary. Clarity regarding what
is meant by 'protection', whose protection we are considering
. and
why, is vital.
Assessment of risk and risk taking is central to any discussion

involving independence, liberty and protection, and have been more
readily associated with child protection. Certainly, there are few
policy guidelines relating to issues of risk in work with adults, and
this is an area needing further attention.
Radical critique by the disability movement
Many disability groups, whilst welcoming the majority of the aims

and principles of the community care legislation, remain highly
critical of certain fundamental ideological conflicts they see at its
core, which give them cause to question how realistically achievable
and implementable those aims and principles may be. Central to
these concerns is the concept and understanding of 'independent
living' and what is understood by 'independence' . This, rather than
being associated, as it traditionally is, with an individual's ability to
be self-reliant and self-supporting, should be seen as individuals
having control over all aspects of their lives, and as an issue of civil
rights. Morris ( 1 993:38) argues thus:
The aim of independent living is held back by an ideology at the heart of

community care policies, which does not recognise the civil rights of
disabled people but instead considers them to be dependent people and in
need of care. Associated with this is the central importance given to the
role of 'informal carers' - partners, relatives and friends of 'dependent
people' whose unpaid assistance is seen as vital in keeping down the costs
of community care policies.
Indeed, the government's stated intention that informal carers have

a key role to play in community care rests on the assumption that
informal caring networks exist and have an independent life of their
own. This is an assumption which has been questioned and criticised
(see, for instance, Finch and Groves, 1 9 80). There is also an
assumption that there is a willingness and choice on behalf of carers
to care, and on behalf of users to be cared for, in this way. Such an
understanding of informal networks does not take account of the
possible effect<; and consequences upon those relationships. As
Morris (1 993: 1 J) puts it:
Are they [disabled people] merely 'dependants' of long-suffering carers?

Do they have nothing to offer a relationship other than a 'burden of
caring'? And what is it like to receive care from those you love? What
effect does it have on your relationships? How does it compare with
receiving assistance from those who are paid to give it?
Yet, if informal carers and users have no alternatives in relation to

the caring role which, given the criticisms levelled at community
care i n relation to inadequate funding and resourcing, may well be

the case, there is indeed a conflict of ideology present, since choice is
a cornerstone principle of the policy.
Morris (1993) argues further that the concept of independence as
meaning the ability to have control and choice over all aspects of an
individual's life applies to all adults. Whilst this is a valid point, it
is also important to recognise that the degree of choice individuals
are able to exercise in their lives varies. Social workers often work
with extremely vulnerable individuals and it is essential that they
acknowledge and undertake their responsibilities here sensitively and
appropriately.
It is worth noting that the Disability Rights Bill (Ogden, 1 994;
George and Lineham, 1 994), which would have enshrined and
protected many civil rights for disabled people in legislation and
empowered them considerably, was recently blocked by the govern
ment on the grounds that it would be too costly to implement. This
offers a powerful example of how political and economic con
tingency appears to override the socially desirable value of em
powering a section of the population who have been seen and
defined as the 'dependent'. Furthermore, the government's action
violated the very spirit of their own, already enacted, legislation -
the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1 990.
It would appear that it is easier to sound the trumpet call for
community care and empowerment than it is to put it into practice,
as there may be other ideological, sociopolitical and economic forces
at play.
Social workers have been justly criticised for the limited
approaches they have often employed in work with adults. Oliver
( 1 993) argues that, all too often, approaches to work with disabled
people have focused on either a diagnosis (which concentrates too
narrowly on the physical and medical factors relating to an
individual's disability), or an assumptive judgement that to be dis
abled is a tragedy requiring an adjustment on behalf of the disabled
person, and which generally assumes the need for bereavement
counselling intervention. Instead, Oliver calls for an anti-discrimi
natory and non-pathologising approach which moves the focus away
from the physical limitations of individuals and on to the physical
and social environments which impose limitations upon certain
groups or categories of people.
Some of Oliver's criticisms are valid, given that employing any
one of the above models to the exclusion of other approaches is
unhelpful and oversimplifies the complexity of individuals' exper
iences. However, it would be a mistake to totally reject the potential
relevance or value that these models may have within an eclectic
approach to working with adults. While an understanding and

awareness of different approaches is essential, the important point is
the need to approach each individual's situation and needs as unique
to them. Rather than entering into a working relationship with a
user with a preconceived 'repair kit of theory' that may well have no
relevance whatsoever to their situation, which, in fact, may well not
be in need of repair, the worker must retain an open mind and be
willing to redefine and reconstruct the situation according to the
individual context of each user.
What do we need to know in order to work competently with

adults?
The diverse range of skills, knowledge and approaches of social

work are all relevant and needed in work with adults, and some of
those which are generally and more specifically applicable are
covered in this section.
Adults are amongst the poorest and most poorly housed members
of society (Hicks, 1988; Rowlings, 1981). This means that workers
must have a good knowledge of welfare and housing rights and
legislation, or of where to find this information.
Some broad socio-medical and socio-psychological knowledge can
minimise unnecessary intrusion into people's lives in relation to
sensitive and personal issues, although we should not make assump
tions, and having an idea of how an illness and disability may
progress may enable us to assist users in planning for possible
changes. This does not mean that social workers should assume the
role of expert in a field in which they are not experts.
A problem-solving approach, focusing on working in partnership
with users to empower them as far as possible, can usefully draw
on psychodynamic, task-centred, behavioural and social learning
theories.
Thinking as we often do of adults and their carers, rather than
adults and their families, we may overlook the need or use of family
work (Iveson, 1990). The application of systems theory can inform
work with a person in relation to their family, wider community
networks or others with whom they are involved, including those
residing in group living settings. Group-work theories and methods
can also be applied to family, community and individual work
approaches. However, it is important that we see theories as a
means of making sense of our actions and do not confuse them with
reality (Iveson, 1990).
Knowledge of human development and the life cycle, which
focuses on key times of change or stress, is important, but caution
must be exercised as these theories have limitations, based as they

often are upon discriminating assumptions. For example, Erikson's
(1 982)'stages of development', covering detailed life changes up to
'adulthood', jumps from retirement to death, assuming a period
of up to fifty years involves little or no significant development or
change.
In order to work with older people, theories relating to the later
life cycle, ageing process, reminiscence and reality orientation work
can be useful. However, the assertion that ours is the reality to
which someone must conform is not always helpful, and social
workers should beware of colluding with ageist assumptions by
using this as a process focusing purely on past experiences and
points of reference, rather than on a person's present value and
future life. Life-history work may offer a more positive approach
here.
Finally, workers need to understand their own roles and responsi
bilities and those of agencies, in order to offer or refer people to the
most appropriate service.
The role of the approved social worker
In working with people in mental distress, local authorities have the

duty to provide sufficient numbers of approved social workers
(ASWs) to carry out their responsibilities under the Mental Health
Act 1983 (section 1 14). They must be appropriately trained and
competent to work with, and assess the needs of people 'who are
suffering with a mental disorder' (Fishwick, 1992). The guidance for
good practice and the implementation of the Act is contained in the
Mental Health Act Code of Practice (Department of Health and
Welsh Office, 1990).
ASWs have considerable powers under the Act, most notably
their personal responsibilities relating to making applications for
compulsory admissions to hospital. Knowledge and understanding
of the relevant law, guidance and policies are needed. Ensuring that
users are aware of their rights, and are empowered to make use of
them, is important, particularly in relation to compulsory admission
and the role and powers of the Mental Health Review Tribunal and
Mental Health Act Commission (Department of Health and Welsh
Office, 1 990).
The introduction of ASWs could be seen as requiring an increase
in the range of social workers' knowledge and skills, leading to higher
standards of assessment and training. It was arguably 'the first
statutorily required specialism since Seebohm' (Brown, 1 987: 17). The
'ASW model' can be effectively transferred and used in other areas of
work with adults, particularly given the absence of specific practice

guidance elsewhere, other than that relating to the process of care
management (Department of Health, 1 99 1 a; 1991b).
The principles underpinning work with people in mental distress
highlight the importance of individual, holistic, needs-led assess
ments and are as follows:
1. respecting, and considering users' individual qualities and

diversity, including their social, cultural, ethnic and religious
backgrounds;
2. taking full account of users' needs, whilst recognising that with
limited resources it may not always be possible to meet them;
3. providing care and support in ways which are least restrictive to
users' liberty and rights. (Department of Health and Welsh
Office, 1 990).
In addition to the general skills and knowledge discussed elsewhere,

post-qualification training should give the ASW a basic knowledge
of psychiatry, mental illness, 'normal' and 'abnormal' psychology
and emotional disturbances, available treatments, and medication
and their effects. It also gives an understanding of how people may
react when they are under pressure or feel threatened; patience,
calmness and self-assurance in potentially volatile situations and an
ability to contain the disturbed feelings of a person experiencing
mental distress is essential, for users to feel as safe and confident as
possible. As good communication between worker and user is the
factor which may determine success or failure in the relationship, an
awareness of potential barriers to communication should be present.
These barriers may include the effects of treatment or drugs;
misunderstandings based on differences in hearing and speech; and
the nature of the illness or behavioural disorder (Department of
Health and Welsh Office, 1990).
The appropriate interview
Specific consideration must be given to the process of assessing and

interviewing people in mental distress. The Department of Health
and Welsh Office ( 1 990: section 2. 1 1) offer a blueprint of good
practice which is transferable to all work with adults.
Adequately preparing for the interview by objectively evaluating
the reliability of information gathered from a range of sources and
considering where and how the interview should take place is
essential. The choice of venue should be as comfortable, relaxed and
safe as possible. Account must be taken of the user's wishes
regarding who should be present at the interview, and potential risks
for users, workers and others should be anticipated and evaluated.

As far as possible, the interview should involve direct face-to-face
contact with the user and adopt a client-centred approach that
should involve 'checking out' information in a sensitive and clear
way, taking relevant cultural factors into account rather than
making assumptions, and utilising interpreters where appropriate.
An awareness of the stresses which may be experienced by those
involved with the user, particularly where there are conflicts of
interests regarding the safety and protection of family, neighbours or
others, is important. A balance must be struck between protecting
someone in mental distress from self-harm or from harming others,
and enabling them to have maximum control and autonomy over
their lives. Although this is difficult for social workers, they need
both to understand and to apply their often conflicting roles as
carers and agents of social control. That is to say, at times workers
may be advocating or protecting users' rights, and at others they
may be instrumental in restricting or removing those rights.
In addition to the views of the user, ASWs must take account of
those of the nearest relative, and medical and psychiatric opinions
(Department of Health and Welsh Office, 1990). Again, where there
are different and conflicting perspectives, workers may be placed
under extreme pressure regarding other people's or professionals'
judgements, and will need to maintain both their objectivity and a
good working relationship with those significant others in order to
safeguard users' rights and ensure that intervention is guided by
reliable information. Any form of intervention or decisions taken
must be based on a holistic assessment which takes into account a
user's needs in the context of their whole life. Given the discrimi
nation, prejudice and fear operating in society in relation to mental
illness, the values of equality, fairness and a commitment to indi
viduals' human rights and worth are essential (Rogers and Pilgrim,
1989), whilst at the same the rights of others not to be put at risk
must be considered, as well as guarded.
Arrangements for the care and support of people when discharged
from hospital are set out in the Care Programme Approach
(Department of Health and Welsh Office, 1990), and any support
needed will be identified, planned and negotiated with a wide range
of agencies.
While the 'Care Programme Approach' (CPA) goes some way to
ensure that some patients receive coordinated support form a named
'keyworker' on their discharge, more support is needed in the
community for users and those close to them. Inadequate support
for those recently discharged from hospital can impact on issues
such as their employment, homelessness and readmission, and can
contribute to the stress experienced by those to whom users return

for their main support in the community (Hatfield and Lefley, 1 987).
At the same time, the protection of the public from the risk of harm
is an essential requirement. This is a serious issue and has been the
major criticism of community care since the 1950s. More recently,
and following a number of attacks by discharged patients in the
community, a serious crisis in mental health services has been
identified by a government-appointed Mental Health Task Force
(Laurance, 1 994). The task force argues that many patients are
being discharged without adequate supervision or the provision
necessary to meet their housing, social and health needs. This failure
increases risk to both the patient and the public.
Diversion from compulsion and compliance with the law
Where possible, the needs of people in mental distress should be met

by care and support in the community rather than by admission to
hospital, and the likely long-term effects of compulsory admission
on a person's life should be evaluated (Department of Health and
Welsh Office, 1 990).
Certain factors must be taken into account when an alternative. to
hospitalisation, compulsory or voluntary, is considered. These must
include an understanding of the effect non-admission would have on
users and those close to them; ensuring that the need for protection
of all those involved is considered; and the range and appro
priateness of alternative supports or treatment available should be
assessed (Department of Health and Welsh Office, 1 990).
Consideration must be given to whether the user would accept
medical treatment in hospital voluntarily, or as an out-patient, and
there must be an awareness of the dilemmas relating to the extent to
which users have real choice. In high-risk situations, if users do not
choose voluntary admission, they may be compulsorily admitted.
For some people who have voluntarily admitted themselves to
hospital, when they attempt to leave before the professionals
involved are in agreement, they may be subject to an application
compelling them to stay.
Guardianship, though under-used, is arguably the least restrictive
order which can be applied for under the Mental Health Act 1 983,
yet it too is open to criticism as being impossible to implement,
given the lengthy process it may involve and the lack of legal powers
to ensure that individuals comply with its requirements.
In addition, given that some people experiencing mental distress
may come into contact with the criminal justice system, a knowledge
of this system and of the theories and research relating to crime and
deviance are needed to fully advocate for the user's welfare (see
Chapter 6 in this volume).
Community care has created the opportunity for more flexible
alternatives to compulsion under the law for people experiencing
mental distress. The assessment and care planning process offers a
structure within which alternatives to admission or prosecution can
be planned and framed more effectively and creatively. The
development of budgets has given workers more scope to arrange
appropriate resources to meet individuals' needs. If, for instance, a
person is likely to need intensive support, it could be arranged for
someone with appropriate experience to stay with them in their own
home, rather than having to admit them to hospital. Creative
planning and implementation of the most appropriate action or
services to meet the diverse needs of the individual user is essential.
Adult/elder abuse
Until recently, the area of adult/elder abuse, and work with affected
individuals, was largely neglected. However, interest and concerns
have been expressed, and these concerns have been highlighted
by coverage in the media and a series of publications (see, for
instance, Breckman and Adelman, 1 988; Eastman, 1 985; Hudson,
1 989).
Calls for changes in the law to protect the 'helpless victims' of this
abuse, and the use of such value-laden words, may portray and
promote the 'dependency culture', and amplify the stereotype of a
weak individual unable to make decisions about or be in control of
hislher life. In its broadest definition abuse can encompass that of a
financial, physical, sexual, psychological or emotional nature, and
can be individual or institutionalised. There is no doubt that those
experiencing abuse need support, and in some instances protection
from the perpetrators. However, as a society and as workers, if
social workers ultimately decide to intervene, they need to be clear
about why and how they go about achieving that intervention, and
on what values they base that decision.
It is important that they have an awareness and understanding of
the wider context in which abuse, and elder abuse, can occur and
that this is considered in the light of the ageism and discrimination
which operates and affects elders, adults and the individuals with
whom they are involved.
The stereotypically ageist, Western view of elders regards them as
an homogeneous group of people who no longer have, or desire to
have, an active or influential role to play in society, and who
�xperience increasing physical and mental decline, most often
associated with a belief in their correspondingly decreasing quality

of life and worth. This blatantly negative and discriminating view,
as with other fonus of oppression, creates a climate which con
tributes to the feelings of powerlessness which elders may experience,
promoting the dependency culture which, in turn, is created and
reinforced by wider economic and social factors.
Townsend ( 1 98 1) speaks of the 'structured dependency' of elders,
which he argues is a result of older people's experience of forced
exclusion from work, and their consequent poverty and institu
tionalisation, as well as the restricted roles society affords them
within their families and in the wider community. Elders and their
carers experience and are affected by these negative messages and,
given that wherever there is an imbalance of power that power is
open to abuse, such a dependency culture may promote an environ
ment in which abuse is likely to occur.
There is no question that carers, and those they care for, can often
experience extreme stress and demands which are emotionally and
physically exhausting. Hicks (1 988) notes that a significant per
centage of carers are physically disabled or older people themselves.
Similarly, inadequate or inappropriately adapted housing, poverty
and isolation of users and carers may all be contributory factors
towards an abusive situation or relationship. An awareness of the
stresses and frustration carers may experience is important, not to
excuse the abuse but, through identifying potential contributory
factors or risk indicators, to offer speedy and appropriate support to
alleviate or change the situation.
Workers' interventions should always be the least intrusive and
most empowering for the user and should be made at an early stage
if they are to prevent situations from becoming abusive. A 'solution'
approach, which is based on the mechanisms both users and carers
positively employ to cope and survive in these situations, builds on
individuals' strengths and successes and is more empowering than an
approach which concentrates negatively on the apparent difficulties
and failings involved.
At some point, where possible, users and carers should be
interviewed separately and given the opportunity, in as safe, relaxed
and comfortable an environment as possible, to discuss any concerns
or fears they may have. However this may not be possible or safe
for a range of reasons including carer's and user's distrust of the
motivation of the worker, or if they fear that the user may be forced
to leave their home. If abuse is occurring, the carer may have
obvious concerns regarding the consequences of such an interview
for himlher; or users may experience conflicts between their loyalty
towards their carer, their dependence upon them for assistance and
their fear of possible reprisals should they speak out. Consequently,

workers must be aware that their interventions may even increase
the risk of abuse to users and must act carefully and sensitively.
Users and carers may require a range of supports, including
access to domiciliary services, respite and day care, carers' centres,
financial support, medical treatment, advocates, counselling and
legal advice. Users must be given as much information as possible
on alternatives and supports available if they are to be enabled to
make informed decisions regarding the choices open to them. Where
they are unaware of their best interests, or do not know how to
mobilise others to act for them, workers must be aware of their
responsibilities and act according to appropriate assessments and
decisions which incorporate the active participation of users. The
point to be made here is that, as Iveson (1 990) argues and as has
been the main theme of this chapter, empowerment not just
protection should be the aim.
Conclusion
This chapter has attempted to ofTer an historical and social context

of working with adults, the background to community care, the
implementation of community care, and the role of social workers
within this area of work. User involvement was explored and a
consistent theme emerged throughout the chapter: that users need
not only be assisted to receive satisfactory services, but also be
empowered to participate and make choices, as appropriate, with
regard to their own lives and, indeed, destiny. As the issues covered
in this chapter demonstrate, the knowledge, skills and values of
social work as discussed in previous chapters and exemplified in
CCETSW (1 995) are those most suited to achieve competent work
with adults: to working in partnership with users and to enabling
them to access the assistance and support they may need.
References
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Press.
Breckman, R. and Adelman, R. (1988) Strategies for Helping Victims of Elder
Mistreatment. London: Sage.
Brown, R. (1987) The Approved Social Workers Guide to the Mental Health Act 1983.
London: Community CareIReed Business Publishing.
CCETSW (1991) D pSW: i Rules and Requirements for the Dploma

i in Social Work
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6
Crime, Probation and Social Work with Offenders
This chapter covers the core knowledge, values and skills required in
working with offenders. In the limited space available it is not
possible to cover issues in much detail and the reader is advised to
consult other relevant texts (see for instance CCETSW, 1995:23-36;
Geary, 1 994; Home Office et al., 1995; Hungerford-Welch, 1994;
Jones et al., 1 992; May and Vass, 1 996; Raynor et al., 1 994; Sprack,
1 992; Ward and Ward, 1 993; Williams, 1994; Wasik, 1993; Wasik
and Taylor, 1 991).
The major duties and tasks of those working with offenders in a
formal and regular capacity as well as the current sentencing options
for the supervision and punishment of offenders in the community
are set out in the Probation Rules (1 984) and by several Acts of
Parliament. Probation was first recognised in statute in 1 907. The
Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 consolidated previous
enactments on probation orders and introduced the community
service order. The Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 further extended the
range of community penalties, made the probation order for the first
time a sentence of the court (rather than an alternative to a sentence)
and set them all within a common framework.
Those who work with offenders are faced with considerable
challenge and constant change. For example, services are responding
to important and significant initiatives, such as changes in training
(Nellis, 1 996), emphasis on competences (Boswell, 1 996), dramatic
changes in criminal justice (Home Office, 1 995a; Smith, 1 996; Vass,
1 996), tackling discrimination (Denney, 1996), developing partner
ships with other agencies (Broad, 1 996; Gilling, 1 996) and questions
about service provision and its effectiveness (Mair et aI., 1994; Lloyd
et al., 1 994; Raynor, 1 996).
In the above social context of fast-changing social relationships
and requirements guiding the work of social workers and probation
officers in dealing with offenders, 'Competition for scarce resources
means that day-to-day performance is increasingly under scrutiny
and services must now demonstrate value for money in terms that
the public can understand' (probation Training Unit, 1994:vii).
Within that framework of social, legal, economic, political and
organisational change, the operation and performance of probation
Crime, Probation and Social Work with Offenders 133
and social services personnel (in the case of supervision of juveniles

by local authorities) are monitored and subject to inspection by HM
Inspectorate of Probation (HM Inspectorate of Probation, 1993,
1994) and the Social Services Inspectorate respectively. Required
standards of practice to which all forms of formal intervention and
supervision are expected to comply are set by the government in the
form of 'national standards'. National Standards for the Supervision
of Offenders in the Community was first published in 1992 (Home
Office et aI., 1992) and extensively revised in 1995 (Home Office et
aI., 1995). At the same time, in order to ensure that those who work
with offenders are to improve their performance in the above
challenging climate, an emphasis has been placed, rightly or wrongly
(see May and Vass 1996 for a critical account), on the development
and enhancement of 'competences' (CCETSW, 1995:23-36;
Probation Training Unit, 1994).
Crudely, a simple definition of 'competence' is 'the ability to
perform work activities to the expected standard' (probation Train
ing Unit, 1994:1). This means that 'Increasingly, judgements of
individual capability are being based on the ability to meet the
measurable requirements of a job rather than on the more general
criteria of experience, qualifications or background' (probation
Training Unit, 1994:1). The benefits which are assumed to accrue
from defining standards and conforming to them are both individual
and organisational. At the individual level, competences make
important 'contributions to recognising . . . effectiveness and pride
in [one's] work. . . . Expertise can be more readily transferred and
movement between jobs and services facilitated' (probation Training
Unit, 1994:2). At the organisational level, 'Management systems
based on competences lead to fairer, more effective organisations
with greater staff satisfaction. The notion of competence brings a
new approach to supporting individual staff members, and helping
them develop their potential' (probation Training Unit, 1994:2).
Although the above claims are somewhat flawed (see Boswell,
1996; Nellis, 1996) for they present competences as something which
can be learned by anyone on the spot by following through
guidelines which are formulated in the form of a shopping list of
'dos and don'ts' (a caricature, and dangerous at that, of what
standards, quality and performance stand for), the essence of being
competent ought to be about defining and combining knowledge,
values and skills which can be applied and transferred if need be
from one context to another, and from one job to another.
In that sense, competence is the ability to perform in diverse
contexts and with offenders from diverse backgrounds, sentences,
dispositions and needs. It is the ability to understand, assess and
make choices (hence reach decisions) by utilising and combining

knowledge, values, skills and experience.
The purpose of the probation service

The probation service serves the courts and the public by supervising
offenders in the community; helping offenders to lead law-abiding
lives that minimise risk to the public; and safeguarding the welfare
of children in family proceedings.
Those who work with offenders are expected to undertake a
number of major tasks and meet responsibilities which are basically
to provide the courts with infonnation and advice, as appropriate,
on offenders to assist in sentencing decisions; to implement com
munity penalties passed by courts; to design, provide and promote
effective programmes for the supervision of offenders in the
community; to assist prisoners before and after release, to lead law
abiding lives; to help communities prevent, cope with and reduce
crime and its effects on victims; to reconcile the needs of offenders
and communities, recognising the obligations of both and the need
to manage risk safely; to provide infonnation to the courts on the
best interests of children in family disputes; to work in partnership
with other bodies and services in using the most appropriate and
constructive methods of dealing with offenders and defendants.
The role of those who work with offenders is to aim at controlling
and reducing crime. In so doing, they are required to deliver the best
possible quality of service by recognising that the individuals with
whom they work have rights and responsibilities and that differences
among those individuals are acknowledged in a positive manner.
Workers should establish effective working relationships with service
users, other agencies and the community at large, and ensure that all
relevant procedures and statutory requirements are followed and
complied with. All service users should expect to be treated fairly,
openly and with respect, and infonnation about them should be
treated in a confidential manner and in accordance with the law and
relevant codes of practice. Finally, those working with offenders are
publicly accountable for their actions and need to maintain high
standards of service if they are to earn the confidence of the public,
courts and individual service users (CCETSW, 1995; Probation
Training Unit, 1 994).
Values
It is evident from the above that if the aims of meeting the

challenges and complexities of working with offenders, often in
Crime, Probation and Social Work with Offenders 1 35
conditions of considerable tension, conflict and ambiguity (for

instance, reconciling the needs of offenders and those of the
community), a set of values need to be adhered to and used as a
guiding force in dealing with service users. Within the above
responsibilities and expectations there are clear indications and
references to what those values are and should be.
In the main, working with offenders may not be so different from
generally dealing with individuals whose needs or problems fall
outside criminal law. That is to say, probation officers and others
who work with offenders share the main social work values of
assisting 'people to have control of and improve the quality of their
lives and are committed to reducing and preventing hardship and
disadvantage for children, adults, families and groups' (CCETSW,
1 995:4). They deal, as do social workers in general, with individuals
and social settings characterised by diversity. 'This diversity is
reflected through religion, ethnicity, culture, language, social status,
family structure and life style' (CCETSW, 1995:4). Given that their
actions have serious implications on users and the community,
probation officers, like social workers, must treat people with
respect, be trustworthy and efficient. As the chapter on skills has
argued, they must also be 'self-aware and critically reflective' (see
also CCETSW, 1 995:4). Their practice, therefore, must be 'founded
on, informed and capable of being judged against a clear value base'
(CCETSW, 1 995:4).
CCETSW (1 995:4) summarises this value base thus:
• Workers identify and question their own values and prejudices

and the implications of these for practice.
• They respect and value uniqueness and diversity, and recognise
and build on strengths.
• They promote people's rights to choice, privacy, confidentiality
and protection, while recognising and addressing the complex
ities of competing rights and demands.
• They assist people to increase control of and improve the quality
of their lives, while recognising that control of behaviour will be
required at times in order to protect children and adults from
harm.
• They identify, analyse and take action to counter discrimination,
racism, disadvantage, inequality and injustice, using strategies
appropriate to role and context.
• They practise in a manner that does not stigmatise or dis
advantage individuals, groups or communities.
Converting the above general values into more specific probation

and offender-oriented work, they can be summarised thus:
l 36 Social Work Competences
• Workers challenge attitudes and behaviour which result in crime

and cause distress, or harm to victims and others.
• They reconcile the needs of offenders and communities,
recognising the obligations of both and the need to manage risk
safely.
• They treat all service users fairly, openly and with respect, and
promote and maintain anti-discriminatory practice.
• They work at all times to bring out the best in people.
• They recognise that the individuals with whom they work have
rights and responsibilities.
• They are publicly accountable.
When those values are considered together, that is to say the general
values together with the specific ones, the emphasis is on five notions
of personal and social responsibility: respect for persons, care for
persons, hope for the future (see Bottoms and SteIman, 1 988: ch. 3),
community cohesion and social justice (Bottoms, 1 989). Respecting
the person means that the offender's 'capacity as a free person to
make choices, including sometimes choices that the probation officer
might not like' (Bottoms, 1 989:44) is recognised. Recognising the
person's choices and caring for that individual at the same time
requires that the offender is considered a whole person and not just
someone who has committed an offence. Building on that, the value
of hope becomes important for it 'sees possibilities even in the most
unlikely individuals and social situations' (Bottoms, 1 989:44). Com
munity cohesion arises because 'it is desirable that the various
elements in our society should relate to one another with reasonable
harmony' and social justice is closely related to that, 'since it is
difficult to espouse the concept of "community cohesion" in a
grossly unjust society' (Bottoms, 1 989:44).
In addition to these core values, it is necessary to add the value of
confronting crime - challenging offenders to accept responsibility for
their actions - and to become aware of the impact of crime on
victims. In short, the above values do not, and should not, exclude
the necessary administration and application of controls and
censorship if they are required.
As said earlier, there may be a distinct impression that there are
serious contradictions between caring, say, for offenders and at the
same time aiming at controlling them; or caring for the offender and
at the same time caring for the community. However, we believe this
dichotomy has been exaggerated in the field of probation and any
other social setting involving the supervision of offenders in the
community. As has been argued elsewhere, who says care says
control (Vass, 1 984; see also Harris, 1 980, 1 988). It is not inherently
contradictory to control and care for someone. This is evident in all

'normal' social relationships where an element of care versus
control, love and hate, usually coexist and indeed are necessary
parts of any meaningful social encounter. There is no reason to
believe that this duality between what are seen to be opposing values
cannot be reconciled to engender a fair, efficient and just service. As
Bottoms ( 1 989:44) puts it:
there is nothing inherently contradictory in the idea of a social work

agency exercising certain control functions. Indeed, social work in other
contexts [other than offenders], such as child care, does quite overtly
undertake various controlling actions. The debate on this particular
subject seems to me to have become unhelpfully polarised, and not really
assisted by the rhetoric either of the pro-social worklanti-control lobby or
the pro-controllanti-social work lobby. The real issue, as it seems to me,
is whether any particular suggested sanction, or any proposed method of
enforcement, is incompatible with any of the . . . core social work values.
Furthermore, without negotiating and reconciling the interests of

individuals generally, the maintenance and cohesion of the com
munity, and the interests of offenders themselves it is not possible to
exercise action which is meaningful to all concerned. If it is not
meaningful but demeaning, one cannot refer to respect for indi
viduals, fairness and justice and so on. A particularly revealing
paragraph which explains the necessity to exercise social work
values as specified earlier occurs in a lecture by the late Archbishop
Temple (cited in Bottoms, 1 989:44-5) who said:
The community has three interests to consider: first, the maintenance of

its own life and order, upon which the welfare of all its members
depends; secondly, the interest of the individual members generally; and
thirdly, the interest of the offending member himself. I believe that this is
the true, indeed the necessary, order of priority. But wrong is done if any
of the three is neglected. In particular it is to be noticed that though the
interest of the offender comes last, yet if this be neglected, the action
taken loses its quality of punishment and deteriorates into vengence, for
the offender is then no longer treated as within the society that takes
penal action, but over against it, and therefore outside it.
The 'key point', as Bottoms ( 1 989:45) suggests, is 'that the defendant

"never is only criminal and nothing else", and that any human
society demeans itself if it treats him as if he were nothing else'. This
is why it is relevant to value the belief that all people have
something 'better' or 'more' to offer and why one should be working
at all times to bring out the best in people.
The reference to anti-discriminatory practice is of particular
relevance here. One cannot afford respect to others or treat them
fairly and in a just manner or help them to bring out the best in
themselves if they are being discriminated against. In keeping with

the duty not to discriminate referred to in section 95 of the Criminal
Justice Act 1991, the work of probation services, social services
departments and all those with whom they work in partnership,
should be free of discrimination on the ground of race, gender, age,
disability, language ability, literacy, religion, sexual orientation or
any other improper ground. Where language difficulties impair
effective communication with an offender an accredited interpreter
should be used. In Wales, an offender should have the right to use
Welsh, if necessary through an interpreter (Home Office et al.,
1 995: 5-6). It must be noted, however, that although section 95 of
the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 requires the Secretary of State to
publish information for the purposes of 'facilitating the avoidance of
discrimination on the grounds of race or sex or any other improper
ground', this does not constitute a statutory duty (Ward and Ward,
1 993:4). As Ward and Ward (1993:4) add:
it cannot therefore be relied upon directly to challenge the actions or

decisions of those within the criminal justice system. However, it does
constitute a statutory recognition of this important principle. Prac
titioners should ensure that assessments of seriousness levels avoid any
disparity of treatment or stereotypical judgements. This will also be
important in assessing the suitability of a particular community order,
and which requirements (if any) are imposed.
Exercising anti-discriminatory practice cannot rely just on state

ments of intent, guidelines and procedures. It depends, to a greater
extent, on how individual workers choose to work with service users.
It is worth reminding the reader of the basic values which are
essential in ensuring a determined and consistent approach to
combating overt and covert forms of discrimination:
• Workers must know themselves, by identifying and questioning

their own values and prejudices and the implications of these for
practice.
• They need to accept uniqueness and diversity and recognise and
build on strengths.
• They need to accept and respect individual rights and circum
stances and understand how these affect the delivery of services
to offenders and communities.
• They must learn to counter discrimination, racism, poverty,
disadvantage and injustice in ways appropriate to the situation
and their role.
• They must eliminate discrimination and disadvantage in all
aspects of their work.
• They must remain publicly accountable and demonstrate anti

discriminatory practice through the quality assurance process.
Knowledge
Chapter 1 in this volume described at some length the various areas

of knowledge that social workers and probation officers need to
cover in order to be competent in their practice - for example the
historical context of social work, social science perspectives and their
application to practice, power relationships, components of effective
communication with children, young people, adults, groups and
communities, theories and models of social work, concepts of
empowerment, research and its implications for practice, statutory
duties and assessment of need (see also, CCETSW, 1 995). The
knowledge base needed for working with offenders shares the same
general knowledge required and expected of social workers.
However, as an area of practice, working with offenders has, in
addition, its own specific body of knowledge which provides insights
and understanding of offending, organisational matters including the
function of and interconnections of constituent parts of the criminal
justice system, sentencing and range of penal sanctions, roles, tasks
and requirements, and effectiveness of intervention amongst others.
A detailed and critical discussion of these issues, and others, and
how they relate to effective practice has been covered elsewhere (see
May and Vass, 1 996). In this section we cover particular aspects,
albeit in brief, of this knowledge base which is essential to everyone
working for the probation service, social services departments, the
voluntary or independent sectors and whose main responsibilities
include the supervision of offenders or who may have some other
direct or indirect involvement in criminal justice. It is often wrongly
assumed that only probation officers require this knowledge base, as
social workers have little to do with criminal justice. This is a very
unfortunate and unhelpful myth which has led to both poor
knowledge (as information about crime and criminal justice is
deemed to be irrelevant) and poor practices. For example, every
competent social worker must be in a position to understand courts
and how they work, write reports for them (e.g. pre-sentence
reports) and know what sentencing options are available at the time
to make an informed judgement Indeed, national standards for the
supervision of offenders place responsibilities not only on the
probation service but also on every social services department in the
country (Home Office et aI., 1 995).
Criminology, crime and deviance

This is a vast field which covers many controversial issues, including
the historical context, definitions and the criminal process, statistics
and implications for policy, public conceptions and misconceptions
about crime, victims and victimisation, theories (from biological and
psychological to social), feminist criminology, crime, fear of crime,
crime prevention and the community (including inter-agency work),
crime and mental health, lifestyle, accommodation and employment,
race and crime. There are many texts which cover the general topic
or specific aspects of this area and it is expected that individuals
working with offenders must have a basic knowledge and under
standing of relevant issues (see, for instance, Downes and Rock,
1 988; Smith, 1 995; Williams, 1 994). We agree with Smith (1 995: 1 )
when he writes:
much of this work [criminology] can and should be understood in a way

which makes it usable as practical knowledge, sometimes directly, as
when empirical work is used to inform changes in practice; sometimes
indirectly, as part of a broader process of 'enlightenment' . . . which leads
to changes in professional aims, values and culture. . . . Criminology is
essentially an applied discipline, a helping science, which positively ought
to engage with the problems which confront practitioners in the criminal
justice 'system' (if it can be called that), and with the problems of crime
and its effects, which thousands of lay people experience every day as -
offenders, as victims or as citizens concerned about the impact of crime

on themselves, their families or their neighbourhoods, or society as a
whole.
It is important to emphasise that studying criminology and theories

of crime does not in itself offer ready-made solutions to crime. There
are reasons for this. Each theory and model of crime (and hence
society) offers a version of what might be 'reality' but 'proof'
remains, for all of them, a very elusive and unaccomplished task.
There are too many complex and intertwined (known and unknown)
environmental, political, psychological, social and other variables at
play for criminology to come up with clear and distinct answers to
questions about crime and its prevention. As such, much of the
knowledge in this area is subjective in that proof is based on
interpretative knowledge accrued by surveys, observation, armchair
theorisation, and reviews or reassessment of available information
and on the perspectives of the interpreters. For example, the rela
tionship between unemployment and crime may appear to be
incontestable in the context of rising unemployment and crime in the
1 980s and 1 990s (see Dickinson, 1 993; Farrington et al., 1 986; Field,
1 990). But the debate whether unemployment causes crime (or
whether some other variable is involved which contributes to higher
Crime. Probation and Social Work with Offenders 141
rates o f crimes i n specific settings and by specific social o r age

groups) or whether crime itself leads to higher levels of unemploy
ment (by excluding individuals from competing in the market
economy) continues unabated. As Williams (1994:285) writes, 'There
is now widespread, though not total, acceptance that there is a
strong relationship between criminality and economic or income
inequality; that there is probably a relationship between crime and
unemployment; and that this relatIonship is strongest in the case of
young males', but there are conflicting accounts and interpretations
of that relationship and how it affects a society (for a review of
various claims see Williams, 1 994:282-5). The common counter
argument is that poverty, economic or income inequality and
unemployment cannot be regarded as causes of crime as there are
many people who experience deprivation (are materially poor and
without regular or any employment) but do not appear to commit
crimes. The counter-argument, in its simplest form, suggests,
therefore, that crime does not relate to the absolute levels of poverty
or wealth in a given society. On the other hand, though, an equally
rational and persuasive argument is that in a fairer and more
egalitarian society some forms of crime (property offences) could be
reduced.
Part of the problem in discussing crime and its prevention is that
people often take the concept of crime for granted without realising
that it is both difficult to define in any concrete way and extremely
hard to measure. Something which is normally forgotten is that we
refer to crime in the singular when in fact we should refer to
'crimes'. Our perceptions and understanding are clouded by a failure
to distinguish between different types and acts of crime in
discussions, debates and policies. Secondly, references to crime are
normally made as if everyone knows what constitutes crime and that
common sense tells us what is criminal and non-criminal. That is far
from the truth. It may sound far-fetched for some but there is no
definition of crime which can be put to universal application. Crime
and its definitions cannot be separated from the societal context, the
legal system, and normative evaluations of behaviour and actions.
The definition of acts as criminal or deviant depends largely on two
sets of related norms: the legal and the moral codes prevailing at the
time (for such codes change with time) in any society. In moral
terms many acts can be unacceptable and deviant but may not be
criminal. They can only be criminal if an act of human behaviour is
barred by criminal law. IT that act is committed and breaks a legal
rule, it is deemed to be an offence. An offence, though, may not be
criminal unless the law says so. But laws (including criminal law)
which have universal application and legitimacy in a society like
England and Wales are enacted by the apparatus of the state.

Inevitably, it is politicians given ministerial power (following
personal choice or advice from competing interests), Parliament, and
interpretations of the law by judges which define and constitute acts
as criminal. Williams (1 994: 1 1) summarises these ambiguities about
crime and the role of the state very succinctly:
it is essential that one never forgets that no matter how immoral,

reprehensible, damaging or dangerous an act is, it is not a crime unless it
is made such by the authorities of the State - the legislature and, at least
through interpretation, the judges.
Thirdly, there is a criminal process of proving guilt which has to

be completed before even an act which violates a criminal code of
conduct can be deemed to be criminal. That is to say, breaking the
law may be seen to be criminal but it is not officially designated as
such until formal conviction. It is the act which is in question.
Conviction implies that in court it was found that the person
involved had acted against the law (i.e. the actus reus of the crime).
Persons may commit acts which violate the law but, in defence, they
may prove that they had acted lawfully. Crime, therefore, and the
process of defining acts as criminal, involves procedural rules,
'scripts', 'roles' and 'parts' to follow and 'play' by many individuals
in the system before the legality or illegality of an act is established.
Playing 'crime games', as in playing 'war games', involves a measure
of ceremony, ritua:lism and theatrical presentation before any
outcomes are announced. Within that social context of becoming
criminal, the procedural script is normally followed rather rigidly
but the 'story' and how that story or drama unfolds and is played
out by participants remains by and large unpredictable until the
defendant is found guilty or not guilty. Furthermore, in the context
of deliberations, and in most court cases, the intentions of the
individual in committing the act, whether he or she intended to
commit the crime (i.e. mens rea), are considered. For example, in a
recent case an Algerian asylum-seeker who attacked a doctor after
being told to stop smoking at a London underground station was
sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment. After sentencing him, the
judge in the case said he would not make a recommendation for
deportation and explained this decision thus:
Courts have a duty to try to protect innocent members of the public

going about their normal business on the Underground and unless courts
take a very finn view of wholly unprovoked violence of this kind then
they are failing in their duty. . . . This offence, though extremely serious,
was not pre-planned but something that flared up at that moment and I
don't think this is a case where I should make a recommendation for

deportation. (quoted in Independent, 1 995)
As can be observed, as the act, 'though extremely serious' and

'unprovoked', was not 'pre-planned' (hence, unpremeditated), the
more serious consequence for the offender - deportation - was
withheld. However, this idea of not planning to commit a crime and
not recognising its consequences does not always lead to such
leniency or a consistent (non-discriminatory) interpretation of intent.
Occasionally it can lead to injustices against women who suffer a
history of mental and physical abuse at the hands of their male
spouses or acquaintances. Mter years of experiencing such abuse,
some women are led to despair and commit violent crimes against
their male partners which sometimes result in their death or serious
injury. In such cases, the issue of mens rea can work against women
if courts take the view that the crime was the result of a history of
mental and physical abuse. As there was a history to the crime,
unlike the spontaneous combustion which led to the violent crime in
the earlier example, the implication can be that the commission of
the act was not the result of a reaction which 'flared up at that
moment' but a crime which was premeditated: that the defendant
had planned the method and the timing (whilst, say, the man was
incapacitated - drunk or asleep - and thus defenceless). Indeed, one
of the most common defences against the mens rea of an offence, a
plea of diminished responsibility or insanity, may not appear
convincing in the face of that history of events.
Interpretation of premeditation and intended consequences, there
fore, can establish or limit guilt and as such can have an effect on
the outcome - how the crime is defined, categorised or punished.
Fourthly, what crime is, is what statistics tell us it is. As story
tellers, they do not tell all. They only report offences known to the
police and the courts, and sentences passed. It is estimated that only
a fraction of acts which breach the law are ever in the public view,
so there is much crime which remains hidden: crimes are committed
by many more people than statistics would have us believe.
Everyone is capable of some form of offence but the difference is
whether one is caught or not. Only those who are caught or
prosecuted enter the official data which provide a profile of type and
incidence of crimes. In that sense, the role of the police, social
workers, probation officers and others in defining and socially
constructing statistics (by the choices they make and the discretion
they exercise in taking action against offenders) is significant. As has
been argued elsewhere (see Vass, 1996 for a critical discussion) one
of the reasons why offenders given community penalties (e.g.
straight probation orders and community service: see Lloyd et al.,

1 994) show a slightly lower reconviction rate in comparison to
people who are released following imprisonment is that probation
officers, like other law enforcers, can influence outcomes by the
decisions they take (e.g. to prosecute or not to prosecute defaulters).
Similarly, a considerable amount of research in the 1 960s, particu
larly in the USA, about police decisions in apprehending suspects
clearly demonstrated that many factors, other than demeanour (e.g.
the gender, race, self-presentation, verbal and non-verbal cues and
perceived social class of the suspect), play a part in the decision to
prosecute or not to prosecute. Recent research postulates that black
offenders (Afro-Caribbeans) are proportionately more likely than
whites or Asians to be arrested and are more likely to be charged
after arrest for offences which run a high risk of imprisonment
(Jefferson and Walker, 1 992; Walker, 1988, 1 989).
Closely connected with the social construction of statistics is the
distinction one should draw between actual crime and fear of crime.
Statistics and the way in which those 'facts' are presented or
misrepresented by the media can largely colour popular conceptions
of crime and the fear of crime. In tum, this fear of crime, and of
falling victim to some serious if not violent act, creates a state of
siege and leads many groups of people, particularly women and
older people, to change their lifestyle in order to protect themselves
from harm (Hough and Mayhew, 1985) . In terms of statistics, this
fear may have very little relation to the actual occurrence of crime
and the risk of victimisation. It is young people who consistently
appear to be the most vulnerable group, that is, who are more likely
to be victimised, and yet they are the ones who, according to crime
surveys, express the least fear. This exaggerated (for some social
groups) or underestimated (by younger people) fear of falling victim
to crime adds to the confusion and somewhat amplifies the com
plexities of understanding and coping with crime. This is not a new
phenomenon for historically it has been demonstrated that crime,
definitions of criminal acts, and fear of crime have always been part
and parcel of the social structure (pearson, 1 983).
However, it is fundamentally inaccurate and indeed morally
wrong to impute meaning to the fact that just because people have
unrealistic fears of crime they are, in some way, irrational. For it
should be appreciated, as W.I. Thomas (an influential figure in the
emergence of symbolic interactionism in its original and unsystem
atised form) once put it, 'if [people] define situations as real, they are
real in their consequences'. What this means is that it does not really
matter very much if one is actually at risk. If she or he believes so,
that is a social fact and the effects of that fact are real: not
imaginary or irrational. Furthermore, remembering what was said

earlier about hidden crime which never comes to the notice of the
public or the authorities other than the private worlds and experiences
of victims,that fear may be a realistic, rational response to an actual
experience which was not reported. In fact, various authors have
raised doubts about claims that fear of crime by some social groups,
especially women and members of minority ethnic groups, is an
exaggerated affair (see readings in Maguire and Pointing, 1 988;
Mawby and Walklate, 1 994). Work carried out by the Centre for
Criminology at Middlesex University (Jones et aI., 1 986) and other
criminologists (Dobash and Dobash, 1 980; Stanko, 1 987, 1 988;
Russell, 1 982) found that more crimes were committed against
women than were normally reported, and that many women knew
of acquaintances who had been sexually attacked but had not
reported that to the authorities. These findings may imply that, for
some groups, fear of crime may be a very realistic assessment of and
response to a real risk. These same social groups, including older
people and minority ethnic groups, may experience more crime or
acts of deviance against them than is commonly accepted or
understood, but are effectively suffering in private and in silence.
Theories of crime and deviance

Asking the question 'what causes crime' or 'why do people commit
crimes' and expecting an absolute or conclusive answer is like
searching for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Simply, there
is no definite and agreed explanation why people, some more than
others, commit criminal offences. There are varied explanations
including economic, physical and genetic, biochemical, psychologi
cal, sociological and feminist critiques (for a useful discussion of
most of these, their contributions, weaknesses and relevance to
policy, see Smith, 1 995; Williams, 1 994). Here we will give brief
illustrations of the diversity of approach.
Economic explanations question assumptions that offenders are
sick, abnormal, deviant, or deprived. Rather, they regard offenders
as rational and calculating and, as in normal economic circum
stances, trying to maximise their choices and preferences subject to
given constraints (which in this instance are taken to be legal codes
and fear of punishment). One view is that all individuals have
insatiable desires which cannot be accommodated or attained
because of limited resources, particularly income. Preferences and
tastes differ between individuals, who have different genetic charac
teristics and are subject to different socioeconomic opportunities.
Crudely, individuals calculate their chances of achieving their
aspirations through legitimate income; the amount of income offered
by these legitimate opportunities; the extra opportunities offered via

illicit means; the probability of being apprehended and charged for
the illegal dealings; and finally, if caught and punished, what
punishment to expect. It is as though a balance sheet is drawn up
made up of the assets/benefits (of maximising choice through crime)
and costslliabilities (if found out). It is in this sense that the offender
is seen as a normal, calculating individual who conducts a costJ
beneft analysis of engaging in crime.
The inevitable conclusion reached, by such an approach, about
how to discourage the use of illicit methods of maximising social
and economic 'profit' is to increase the chances of the offender being
caught, in the first place, and, in the second place, to ensure that she
or he will receive severe punishment (e.g. making prisons harsher
and more unpleasant).
There is no denying the fact that such an explanation of crime is
seductively attractive as it explains something that common sense
associates with: greed. Many people are 'greedy' and much of the
problem in contemporary society is placed squarely and directly on
their appetite for maximising their income and worldly goods. Crime
is a means to achieve that goal. The approach is also attractive
because it draws little distinction between offenders and others. They
are not propelled into situations against their will. They choose to
act illicitly and attach meaning to their actions.
However, there are many problems with this sort of explanation.
For example, it is relevant to some property offences (including theft
from the person) but it is difficult to see how it can explain crimes
which are committed for reasons other than economic benefit (e.g.
men's crimes against women or 'crimes of passion'). It is also
questionable that, even in crimes where economic benefit is con
sidered, people committing those acts are so systematic and
calculating and preoccupied with economic budgeting. Much of
crime can in fact be opportunistic - relevant to specific moments,
settings and circumstances. More seriously, it appears to rely on
statistics which normally show an over-representation of individuals
from the less affluent sections of society. As said earlier, as oppor
tunities are unequal, some people try to increase their economic
chances by illicit techniques, which makes it look as though crime is
the prerogative of certain groups in society. As an explanation, it
falls short of offering a realistic understanding about 'white-collar
crime' such as misrepresentation in financial statements of corpor
ations, manipulation of the Stock Exchange, commercial bribery,
bribery of public officials and politicians, embezzlement and
misapplication of funds and tax frauds (Sutherland and Cressey,
1 966). Many of these activities remain invisible and therefore hidden
from statistics. Where they become visible, a large proportion of

those who commit such crimes are not convicted in criminal courts.
Although one can suggest that the same principle of greed and
maximisation of benefits is the guiding force behind such crimes,
such individuals have the means and capacity to evade recognition
and punishment. When they are recognised, punishment normally
falls short of expectation and is disproportionate to the social cost
and damage done by their activity.
Biological/psychological explanations (see Smith, 1 995: ch. 3;
Williams, 1 994: 1 1 1-263) emphasise, in the main, the characteristics
of the individuals who commit crimes. Such explanations tend to
look at their biological make-up, attitudes, emotions, motivations
and adaptations or adjustments to the environment, psychosexual
development and a host of other intrinsic characteristics.
In biological terms, it is believed that genes play a part in
explaining criminality. As people are individually genetically unique
(except identical twins) this explains why some commit crimes and
others do not though they may experience similar social and
sometimes physical environments. In contrast to early biological
theories which relied exclusively on genetic factors in explaining
crime, contemporary works are more sophisticated and involve the
study of both genetics and social influences (Ellis and Hoffman,
1 990). In addition, since intrinsic characteristics can be located, it
follows that the availability of 'experts' to administer 'treatment'
becomes relevant. Williams (1994: 1 1 1) writes:
most modem researchers do not view the part played by biology in any
explanation of criminality as indicating an illness or a dysfunction; rather
it suggests the possibility of a slightly different configuration of normal
genes giving rise to a temperament which is more receptive to antisocial
types of behaviour. Furthermore many do not view such differences as
immutable, recognising instead that biological and genetic differences can
be altered.
One particular example, which blends biology, personality and

environment, is worth referring to as an illustration. The framework
of psychoanalysis has received canonical status and differential
interpretations, resulting in the development of diverse psycho
analytic accounts of criminality. Psychoanalytic theory has had a
useful but also perverse effect on social work (pearson et al., 1 988;
Smith, 1 995). Psychoanalytic criminology is already nearly a century
old and remains a strong influence on theories of crime.
Psychoanalytic criminology starts out with the crucial assumption
that all human behaviour is motivated and thus goal-oriented or
teleological in character (Feldman, 1 964). Since human behaviour is
motivated and goal-oriented, it follows, it is argued, that human

behaviour is functional in that it fulfils a desire or need. However, to
understand the motives or functions of an act one must not just
observe the end product, that is the outcome of the behaviour (overt
action), but must understand subjective meanings and the sig
nificance which the actors attach to themselves. The principle of
subjective understanding (which is dealt with in more detail later in
this chapter) is an established tenet in sociological theory and runs
in the tradition of Max Weber's Verstehen, that is to say the search
for meaning. It is an approach which analyses social situations
according to how people orient their actions toward one another
and which influences their meanings, intentions and behaviour
resulting from this action orientation. Psychoanalytic subjective
understanding goes a step further and becomes more complex.
Psychoanalysis ascertains that the concept of subjective meaning
which actors attach to their actions may be unconscious: the actors
themselves may be unaware of the functions they impute to their
own actions. In essence, an act can have both overt and latent
functions. For example, an act of stealing may appear to offer
rewards to the thief by the acquisition of the goods so desired but
psychoanalytic theory may explain the function at the unconscious
level, which may have a deeper meaning and significance. It may,
for instance, indicate that the individual committing theft is trying to
attract attention to herself or himself, to be apprehended and
penalised for some other 'wrong'. Through this process, the theory
explains, the individual alleviates intolerable guilt feelings stemming
from unconscious and poorly sublimated strivings.
For psychoanalytic theory,
crime . . . represents a behavioural violation of one or more social norms.

Since the cognition of and conformity to social norms are resultants of
the socialization process, it follows that the individual who engages in a
pattern of criminal behaviour has, in some sense, been defectively
socialized or that the norms demanding his conformity are themselves, in
some sense, defective. (Feldman, 1964:435)
What the above implies is that society imposes restrictions on the

instinctual impulses of an individual. Such impulses are part of the
biological make-up of the individual and are essentially antisocial in
nature, consisting of the aggressive, destructive and sexual instinct.
Individuals must, therefore, reach a psychic balance if they are to
retain their normality and adaptation to the environment. In a sense,
original impulses (associated with the id), the mechanisms of
adjustment (associated with the ego) and the internalisation of group
norms (associated with the superego) must be negotiated in order to
achieve a 'balance of power'. However, such a balance occurs only

in conjunction with the amount of gratification and enforced
renunciations individuals experience. Feldman (1964:436) sum
marises this in these terms:
Combining now the principle of motivational functionalism and the

socialization schema of ego psychology, the basic aetiological formula of
psychoanalytic criminology becomes apparent: it simply states that
criminality is undertaken as a means of maintaining psychic balance or as
an effort to rectify a psychic balance which has been disrupted.
An example of such an imbalance is when offenders are deemed to

have gaps in their superego ('superego lacunae'). The offenders'
normative orientation, that is to say their 'conscience' (the inner
policeman), is undeveloped or defective. These gaps result from the
unconscious permissiveness of parental figures who are themselves
ambivalent about the acceptance of the norms which prohibit
antisocial or criminal acts. It also implies that crime may be the
outcome of the intemalisation of defective norms which implicates
an interaction of biology and environment.
The psychological, biological and genetic theories have useful
contributions to make to our understanding of crime. This is
particularly relevant to atypical violent crime which, when it
happens, touches the conscience of a nation (as in the case of mass
murders, such as the Frederick West case, and extreme violent
behaviour by young children against other children, for example the
James Bulger case). In such cases, these theories have a stronger,
higher and more credible relevance and profile to sustain than other
theories which are mainly concerned with the more typical sort of
crimes associated with this society, namely theft and property
offences (including car crime).
The main problem with the psychoanalytic approach is that it is
methodologically suspect, as it is difficult to put it to the test: it is
difficult to falsify the above assertions as they are deeply embedded
in the psyches of individuals. These are not observable and quanti
fiable characteristics. The approach, as well as most other
psychological theories, suffers from the very fact that its premise
for the explanation of the criminal act lies in the personality of the
offender and other factors appear to be secondary or peripheral.
Similarly, biological and genetic explanations of crime emphasise
that there is always something which is different in those individuals
than in law-abiding citizens. However, this is far from the truth: a
considerable amount of research contradicts the view that there is
anything intrinsically different between the majority of those who
commit criminal acts and those who do not. The most serious flaw in
this type of explanation is the absence of any real understanding or

acknowledgement that crime, any crime, may not be inherent in the
act but is socially constructed. This refers to the type of problems
discussed in regard to what is 'crime' in an earlier section of this
chapter, and the fact that what is criminal is what the law says it is.
One is not denying the reality and severity of the act. The act itself,
though, is meaningless if it is not defined, in particular contexts and
circumstances, to be criminal. As laws are enacted by individuals,
they cannot be anything else but social evaluations of specific social
events. It is the evaluation of an act within a social context which
makes it criminal or not criminal and not necessarily the personality
or biology of an individual. For instance, one state can wage war on
another and violence is rewarded with notions of 'bravery',
'courage', 'loyalty' or 'service to one's country'. Those who survive
are often celebrated as the 'returning heroes' of a 'proud people'. In
a similar but different context, a boxer is permitted to inflict
permanent injury on another or even cause death in the course of a
fight for a title. In neither case is the loss of life or injury deemed
criminal. But if the same returning soldiers engage in a fight outside
a public house and inflict injury on each other, that is criminal; if the
same boxer uses his skills to knock out someone for shouting abusive
remarks, he is deemed to have committed a violent and criminal act.
The point here is that such theories do not wish to engage with the
grey areas of social life and the social evaluations which go with such
experiences; instead they focus on chosen acts which are defined as
criminal without questioning the contradictions. Crudely, in the
above examples the same individuals appear to be normal in one
context, and criminal (or abnormal) in another. In one instance,
people are seen as efficient 'fighting machines' and on completion of
the task they are decorated for bravery or rewarded with money,
glory and titles. In the second instance, the same people but in a
different context are deemed to be extremely violent and dangerous.
Biological and psychological theories are by and large deter
ministic and reductionist. In their simplest form, individuals have a
propensity to be criminal because of those internal and external
social factors which make them commit crimes. Individuals are seen
as passive and in some sense hapless unless their personality or
genetic make-up is altered. This raises serious ethical and moral
questions about individual rights and duties. As with economic
explanations, they appear to concentrate on the more visible types of
crime and it is highly unlikely that such explanations are readily
employed to explain the crimes of the powerful. It would be
interesting to see a biological, genetic or psychological analysis (a
most unlikely event) of the many cases of embezzlement, corporate
crime, misapplication of pension funds, bribery of politicians or tax

frauds which have bedevilled the socioeconomic and political
context of Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. Such an analysis, if
applied, would put blame on the biosocial and psychobiological
'defects' of politicians, managing directors of large corporations and
media moguls - a legitimate, albeit improbable interpretation.
In contrast to the biological, genetic and psychological theories,
sociological theories devote most of their attention to the social
environment and the nature of social relationships and arrange
ments. As there are many diverse views on the subject (see Downes
and Rock, 1 988; Smith, 1995; Williams, 1994), we will offer a few
illustrative cases.
One strand (a collection of diverse writings including learning in
association with others, cultural influences, social disorganisation
and conformity) of sociological theory is referred to as control
theory (Hirschi, 1 969, 1979, 1986; Matza, 1 964). Basically, this
suggests that inadequate controls are the major reason for crime and
social problems in general.
A good example of such an explanation is social disorganisation.
Crime is seen as a product of lack of social cohesion (e.g. the 'slum').
It is preoccupied with a general breakdown of social controls,
isolation and alienation of individuals, and lack of parental control
over children: low standards of childcare and a lack of emotional
stability in the home. In its basic form, social disorganisation implies
a decrease in the influence of existing social rules of behaviour on the
individual members of social groups. Conversely, as it is the social
environment which is failing individuals (i.e. the environment, as it
lacks appropriate controls, is pathologically disorganised), crime
may be seen as a 'normal' response to the pathological aspects of the
environment. In other words, change the environment and you may
gradually change individuals through association with norms and
values which are conducive to acceptable behaviour.
Social disorganisation theory's emphasis on the 'normality' of
crime in certain neighbourhoods or geographical areas; its point that
local characteristics provide a natural milieu in which criminal
values emerge and persist; and the realisation it offers that the
majority of criminal acts are committed in the company of others
(i.e. it is a group enterprise), must be considered as important
contributions to understanding crime and debates about methods of
intervention. However, it takes for granted that certain values are
preferable over others and it smacks of double standards: it
concentrates on 'disorganisation' and questions the norms and
values missing from that social context, and assumes that everything
about traditional or mainstream values is fine and beyond any
doubt. So it imposes a set of values which are taken for granted

without either close examining or questioning of their relevance or
appropriateness. In addition, by designating relationships as dis
organised, it denies the fact that to exist at that level there must be
some very well defined and organised features or relationships
involved. That is exactly where the irony lies. Even the most violent
criminal gang is an organised social group, exhibiting refined
features of structures and processes which define tasks and roles,
rights and duties and normative expectations. Finally, explaining
crime and other social problems by resort to social disorganisation
theory can be both descriptive and tautological (Downes, 1 966):
social disorganisation causes crime and crime causes social
disorganisation.
Control theory in general is underpinned by processes of
socialisation that have gone wrong or which are weak in their
maintenance of control over individuals. Some people are able to
form proper attachments to the right people and objects (parents,
schools, values). They develop a conscience which guides them
through life. Others, who are less fortunate, experience the opposite.
They form poor attachments and commitments to the right norms
and values; or their social milieu is characterised by norms and
values that are weak and in conflict with mainstream norms and
values Their actions which follow, therefore, are antithetical to
.
conventional expectations about appropriate behaviour.

In sum, as Smith (1 995:39-40) puts it:
The fundamental complaint about control theory is that . . . it assumes

(in extreme versions at least) that we would all be deviant if we dared,
with no other motivation than the gratification of our appetites; and that
this is the likely outcome if our attachment to others is weak or broken.
People are presented as having no internalised sense of values or morality
independent of their concern for the good opinion of others. It suggests,
implausibly, that we refrain from committing crimes out of fear of losing
this good opinion, or in some versions, out of fear of punishment.
Nonetheless, despite these weaknesses, control theory has exercised a

formidable hold on policy. Some of the inner city regeneration
projects, wars against poverty, neighbourhood schemes, and com
munity work projects (to recreate the lost 'community spirit') have
much to do with control theory.
Another set of sociological writings which are normally put
together, despite differences in emphasis, to create a competing
explanation for criminal acts is what is commonly known as strain
theory. This considers relations within a given cultural context and
social structure. Basically, these sociologists view crime and deviance
as socially induced (strain) arising out of unequal access to
opportunities. A particular theme of this theory is the concept of

anomie (Durkheim, 1 933, 1 970). For Durkheim the term was, in the
main, a description of extreme situations of nonnlessness: that is to
say, social conditions where no clear-cut guides to behaviour exist
and where previous solutions to problems are rendered inappro
priate by social change. Anomie arises when the collective order is
disrupted by people's natural (hence biological) aspirations to fulfil
higher (personal, egoistic) goals. For Durkheim crime was an
inevitable aspect of social relations and he considered it a 'normal'
feature of society. Indeed he suggested that, though improbable, a
'society of saints' would be a very unwelcome and oppressive
regime. Merton (1957), though accepting Durkheim's thesis, goes a
step further by reformulating the concept to imply a friction or
disjunction between culturally defined goals and the institutional
(social structural) means of achieving them. In so doing, Merton
expressed himself as a 'cautious rebel' (Taylor et aI., 1973): he was
making a cautious statement about unequal access (structural
means) to success (cultural goal) in American society. His main
concern was to account for the differential distribution of crime
rates amongst different social groups. He suggested that societies
(American society in his formulation) have dominant goals which all
citizens are expected or encouraged to seek and achieve. The notion
of the 'American dream', implying personal financial security and
success and an affluent and influential social status, captures
Merton's idea of the dominant cultural goal. As there is, therefore, a
dominant goal, there are also legitimate means (socially and legally
defined and approved) which engender access to that success.
However, Merton argues that whilst the goals are in abundance, the
means are in short supply: legitimate access is restricted to a few.
The disjunction causes strain in the system. While the cultural
prescriptions are still relevant the legitimate means are blocked by
the social structure. As a result the pressure to deviate from the
legitimate means and employ illicit means to achieve material
success and social rewards is strongest amongst economically and
socially disadvantaged groups. This explains why such social groups
are over-represented in official statistics and appear to commit more
criminal acts.
Merton developed a typology of adaptations (i.e. solutions) for
achieving the dominant goal or resolving the conflict which arises
from a disjunction between goals and means. Those who are able to
achieve the desired goal by legitimate means remain within the
mainstream; thus they manage to remain faithful to the rules and
normative aspirations. They are the 'conformists'. Others aspire to
the goal but have no access to the means. For that, they 'innovate';
that is to say, they use illicit means to achieve the desired outcomes.
But there are also those who are not particularly impressed with the
goals, nor with the means, and want to change the system. These
engage in 'rebellion' and call for a deconstruction and reconstruction
of society. However, there are also others who give up both the
goals and the means and retreat to more individual instrumental
adjustments (e.g. drug-taking, mental illness). There are others too
who abandon all hope for success and lose all interest in the means
and, therefore, apathy sets in. These are the 'ritualists' who are
uninterested in everything and routinely 'play the game'.
Anomie theory has a distinct contribution to make to sociological
theory in general and policy in particular. Many postwar policies on
crime and poverty in the USA and in Britain have or bear the
ideological assumptions of anomie. But as Taylor et al. (1973) have
succinctly argued, there are serious problems with anomie too. In
particular, it is extremely difficult to conceive of a society where
anyone totally 'conforms'. As argued earlier, there is far more crime
in a society than official statistics normally show. Anomie theory
accepts, without criticism, official crime rates as a true reflection of
the incidence of illicit behaviour at any given time. Crime and
deviance are far more widespread than that and include crimes of the
powerful which, as argued earlier, remain camouflaged or if exposed
receive limited attention. Anomie theory, therefore, has been accused
of explaining too much 'proletarian criminality' and too little
'bourgeois criminality' (Taylor et al., 1 973). In regard to the choices
people make, that is to say, the typology of adaptations, they are not
clearly explained. One does not know what makes individuals choose
one adaptation or another or why not all adaptations at one and the
same time. Individually, these adaptations have their own problems
too. For example it is not entirely correct to suggest that 'drug
misuse' is a retreat from society. In fact, drug misuse is far more
socially widespread than is normally assumed and many of those
who are seen to be conformists due to their status and respectability
(for example the medical profession) may be actively engaging in
their normal aspirations while at the same time engaging in serious
drug misuse. Furthermore, as has nowadays been recognised, drug
misuse may not be a peripheral and contra-cultural lifestyle but one
which is deeply ingrained in the social structure of the formal
economy (see Ruggiero and Vass, 1 992).
As in the case of psychological theories, anomie theory treats the
choice (e.g. criminal act) as an abrupt change, a leap from a state of
normality to a state of strain and consequently anomie. It omits
much reference to social interaction and the existence of reference
groups which may encourage or discourage illicit activity.
Whilst Merton considered anomie, and adaptations to that social

condition, as an individual concern, others have suggested that illicit
activity is better understood as a group activity. Thus Cohen (1 955)
argued that anomie is useful in explaining some adult crime (as it
may be utilitarian in character) but fails to explain the non
utilitarian nature of much of subcultural delinquency. Following a
similar line of argument to Merton (in relation to the effects of the
social structure on criminal activity), Cohen explained the emerg
ence of the subculture of the 'delinquent gang' as a result of a rift
between middle-class dominant values and working-class values. As
working-class youth are alienated from dominant values they are
drawn together by common hostilities. As the subculture which is
formed is in direct opposition to the middle-class dominant values,
its own natural aspirations are guided by opposition to social
control agencies (police, social workers, probation officers). It is
characterised by destructiveness, malice towards objects or property
and negativism; overall it is a 'hedonistic' culture.
In another reformulation of Merton's anomie, Cloward and Ohlin
(1 960) made further refinements by connecting the original
formulation to Sutherland's notion of 'differential association'
(Sutherland and Cressey, 1 966) which focuses on the learning
process and the transmission of criminal and deviant lifestyles. They
argued that criminal (like 'normal' behaviour) is part of a col
laborative social activity which gives meaning to individual actions.
Individuals achieve success via 'illegitimate opportunities' which are
supported and taught by a 'criminal culture' which provides, in
contrast to mainstream culture, its own type of lifestyles and
opportunities for achievement.
Subcultural theory, like anomie, underestimates the great diversi
ties that exist in a society and between subcultures. These original
formulations tend to focus on working-class men or boys and there
is a distinct absence of any clear reference to women or girls. They
do not explain why some working-class youths or adults become
members of a subculture whose main theme is to challenge the
legitimacy of the middle-class dominant value whilst others, in
similar socioeconomic circumstances, choose to remain 'loyal' to
legitimate opportunities even though they may recognise their
limited chances for access to shared goals. As Williams (1 994:3 1 1)
also points out, these explanations 'provide no convincing basis to
account for the fact that many of the youths tend to reform or stop
committing criminal acts at the end of their teens and the onset of
adulthood'.
With the progressive development of sociological analyses of
crime and deviant behaviour it is now recognised that the same
social structures and value systems which give rise to socially

approved behaviour and action, can also give rise to socially dis
approved ones. It is also recognised that the appraisals reached by
judges of such behaviour may reflect the 'world views' of the judges.
In other words, crime and its social control are seen to be inter
connected, leading to significant social consequences. One theor
etical perspective which has done much to bring forward this
connection and argue that social control is as important a focus of
study as criminal acts are, is a particular brand of symbolic
interactionism commonly but incorrectly known as labelling theory.
Unfortunately the use of the term 'labelling' (with its implied
consequences of stigma) has taken attention away from the most
important foci and contributions of interactionism to the study of
crime and focused attention on the least original idea about the use
and application of labels in the process of criminalising behaviour.
For that matter, to understand the nature of 'labelling theory' and
its approach to crime and deviance, one needs to identify its
theoretical roots and how those roots have allowed 'labelling theory'
to develop into a distinct perspective of crime and deviance.
Labelling theory can be traced back to one of the most important
theoretical influences in American sociology and social psychology:
symbolic interactionism (see, for instance, Lindesmith and Strauss,
1968; Rose, 1 962; Stone and Farberman, 1 97 1). Symbolic inter
actionism emerged in an unsystematised form from the philosophy
of George Herbert Mead, the writings of Charles Horton Cooley,
and the ecological studies of Park, Burgess and Faris. A
systematised version was provided by Blumer (1 969:79), who
captured its essence thus:
The term symbolic interaction refers to the peculiar and distinctive

characters of interaction as it takes place between human beings. The
pecUliarity consists in the fact that human beings interpret or 'define'
each other's actions instead of merely reacting to each other's actions.
. . . This response . . . is based on the meaning which they attach to such
actions. Thus, human interaction is mediated by the use of symbols, by
interpretation, or by ascertaining the meaning of one another's actions.
From Blumer's work, symbolic interactionism is characterised as

having three foci (plummer, 1 975):
• the social world as a subjective symbolic reality. This focuses on

the meanings and the understanding of the ways in which the
world is socially constructed;
• the social world as interactive and interrelated. This requires the
study of the actor in conjunction with others;
• the social world as a process. This directs the study of social life
as constantly changing, with new meanings emerging.
The above foci are central to labelling theory: 'how attitudes about
the label become socially meaningful, how they are brought into
definitions of varying situations, how they affect the selves of the
actors involved and how they change the structure and course of
future behaviour among them' (Ericson, 1 975:65-6).
Building on symbolic interactionism's major concerns, crime and
deviance can be conceptualised in a similar manner (see Plummer,
1975). In the first instance, crime and deviance can be seen as
interaction. That is to say, labelling theory views crime and deviance
as a transactional process, the result of interaction between those
who commit an act and those who respond to it. The crucial
variable in defining something as illicit or deviant is not the act but
the social reaction to it. Crime and deviance are what people decide
they are. There is the objective aspect of the act but it will have no
consequences unless it is deemed to be criminal (Cohen, 1967). One
cannot understand crime by merely looking at the person or the act;
one has to consider the reactions of an audience, for it is the type of
reaction and the meanings attached to that act which will determine
its status. A much quoted passage from Becker (1963:9) captures the
essence of how labelling theory sees crime and deviance as inter
action: 'social groups create deviance by making the rules whose
infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to
particular people and labelling them as outsiders'.
Equally, labelling theory, in the tradition of symbolic interaction
ism, focuses on the collective definitions of an act or phenomenon
and on how the process of interpreting the actions of each other
leads to a collective act (Ericson, 1 975:33). This is well demonstrated
by Lemert (1 967), who suggests that labelling is the study of 'how
deviant acts are symbolically attached to persons and the effective
consequences of such attachment for subsequent deviations'. In
other words, what labelling theory asserts is that once an act has
been defined as criminal or deviant there are both direct conse
quences (e.g. someone is regarded and treated as a criminal) and
latent consequences (i.e. once treated as criminal and given, say, his
'just deserts', the individual experiences stigma, rejection and inevit
ably self-reaction leading to changes in his behaviour).
In contrast to sociological theories which consider the social
structure and broader concerns, labelling theory concentrates on the
'local dramas', that is micro-sociological concerns and the defi
nitions of the situation. In view of that, when one studies crime in
terms of the interaction between those who commit an act and those
who react to it one discovers that there is nothing absolute about the
interpretations of the situation. That is to say, crime is subjectively
problematic. So-called 'facts', therefore, are only relevant to a
particular time, with particular people in particular social contexts.
Acts of crime, in other words, are relative to time, individuals,
groups and situations. What may be criminal or deviant now may
not be so in future. Symbols, meanings and typifications do not
remain static. They are changeable and negotiable.
As can be observed, the notion that nothing is static or absolute
implies that interactions have another characteristic. They are
dynamic and changing. This means that crime can only be under
stood as a process: 'constantly changing states reflecting complex
interaction processes' (Schur, 1 969:8). Events have a history, or a
'career'. As Plummer (1 975:28) writes, 'Deviancy arises against a
backdrop of perpetual change.'
In a nutshell, labelling theory prefers to consider the actions and
reactions of individuals in the context of social interaction, the
definitions of the situation and how meanings (e.g. that something is
criminal) arise out of that interaction. It suggests that studying the
rules of the situation (social control) and those who define,
administer and enforce those rules (social control agencies) is far
more profitable in understanding crime and deviance than focusing
on the act itself. Although the act is not denied, labelling theory
suggests that it may not be the significant factor which may or may
not establish it as criminal or an unacceptable form of action.
Furthermore, contrary to previous theories, labelling theory moves
the study of crime away from taken for granted views (e.g. that we
all know what crime is) and suggests that life events go through
stages of development: they are dynamic, blurred and negotiable.
Labelling theory has been subjected to considerable criticism (see
Taylor et al. 1 973, for a review) particularly because of its insistence
that attention should move away from the act to those who define
the act as criminal. This criticism is somewhat exaggerated and as
said earlier the misconception that 'labelling theory' only refers to
one thing - the attachment of 'labels' to other people, stigmatising
them for life - has probably done much to encourage misunder
standing of what this brand of symbolic interactionism has to otTer
to the study of crime. It is true that if one concentrates too much on
labels and reactions, diminishing the reality of the harm of the act as
though it is all in the mind, there is a real danger of making
everything appear relative. As Plummer (1 975:25) recognises: 'While
the relativising of deviance has a number of important and valuable
contributions to make, the enterprise is not without its dangers.
Most especially, it can send one hurtling into the relativist collapse
by which it becomes possible to argue that anything is deviant and

anything goes.'
Another major criticism levelled against the theory is that by
focusing on social interaction and thus micro-situational experiences
it fails to deal with macro-structural issues. In other words, it
becomes critical of local officialdom but leaves the real power
relationships (the 'higher-ups') unscathed (Taylor et al., 1 973). In
fairness, the very theoretical position which this perspective adopts
(that of symbolic interactionism) cannot be anything but micro
sociological. And as Rock (1973: 1 4- 1 5) has suggested, 'Even if it is
assumed that large-scale social structures have a logic and
organisation . . . attempts to predict their development may falter
unless they employ material derived from the micro-sociological
plane'. Given that the theory considers that social reactions are a
particularly important factor in the . social construction of criminal
acts, in policy terms it adopts a 'hands-off' approach or preaches
tolerance. Attempts to 'destructure' the prison establishment by a
policy of diverting offenders to community penalties and shielding
juvenile delinquents from the criminal justice system (e.g. police
cautioning) have, in part, their roots in this perspective.
Although the theories covered thus far have raised various
questions about unequal access to life chances, the role of admin
istrators and law enforcers, none has directed its attention to the
role of the state in the process of managing and controlling its
citizens. Conflict theory and critical criminology emphasise the role
of the state in maintaining order and unequal power relationships.
The conflict approach to crime emerged as a conception of society in
terms of competing definitions of reality held by diverse groups in
society. People and groups may share some common values (partial
consensus) but they also have marked differences in normative
orientation and power. Inevitably there is conflict between social
groups, and social order is a temporary and passing phase until
conflict emerges again which leads to change. These theories see the
powerful gaining control of the legal order and using that order to
increase their hold on power. Although unconnected with conflict
theorists, the political writer Schattscheider, in making an obser
vation about the claim that 'pluralist states' are democratic, said:
'the flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings
with a strong upper-class accent'. The observation goes a long way
to capture the gist of the conflict theorists' main concern.
If the powerful use the law to further their interests it means that
the law is used as an instrument of state control. Criminality is
essentially a 'metaphor': in reality it is a power relationship (an
authority versus subject conflict). However, the way in which the
authority/subject relationship develops depends on who is involved

in the relationship. Laws affect people with different social economic
and political characteristics differently. Criminality constitutes a
status which is applied by others who have the power to do so and
higher interests to sustain (Turk, 1 969). 'Crime' then is a political
act. It is constructed by the enactment of laws by the powerful. The
law is accepted by the rest as a legitimate affair. Once it is accepted
and the powerless summit to the authority of the law, the powerful
are bestowed with the right to pursue and promote their class
interests (Quinney, 1 970). Conversely, crime is a conscious way of
resisting and changing that culture. Crime and deviance are normal
responses to the type of social and political structures which
characterise unequal societies. Removing such inequalities and
recognising human diversity would render the existence of a legally
oppressive system unnecessary (Taylor et al. , 1 973, 1 975). In other
words, the state will no longer have to defend itself by creating laws
to patch up the pathologies it has created by its own system
(Quinney, 1 974).
Contlict and critical criminologists are influenced by Marx and
Engels. They place the study and understanding of crime in its
political context, that is the political economy. Along with Marxists
such as Lukacs and Lenin these criminologists use their position as
intellectuals to define reality to the underdog, to create the correct
class consciousness and rescue the masses from false consciousness
(Taylor et aI., 1 973). However, the politicisation of crime incor
porates other strands of theory, particularly aspects of symbolic
interactionism. Although its focus is on the political economy and
therefore on broader social structures within which social relation
ships take place, its definition of crime as a socially constructed
power relationship - that all human behaviour is normal as opposed
to pathological unless it goes through a process of typification and
designation as criminal and deviant - is ail essential focus of inter
actionism, as pointed out earlier in the chapter.
The politicisation of crime, though heralded as a new and
revitalised look at the social construction of crime in the early 1 970s,
is actually very old and few people have realised this. The idea that
crime is a social evaluation leading to social and state controls
established by the powerful to contain others and that the law is a
means to that end can be traced back well before the writings of
such theorists or their founding 'fathers', Marx, Engels and Bonger,
and the writings of Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead,
W.1. Thomas, Robert E. Park, Ernest Burgess, William Ogburn and
Phil Hauser, who are associated with the birth of interactionism.
Indeed some of the basic tenets of interactionism in combination
with critical criminology can be found in the debates between

philosopher and students in the agora in ancient Greece dating from
about 4 1 0 Be. In Plato's Republic (plato, 1 955) a student of
Socrates, Thrasymachus (who constantly agitated his teacher by
rejecting the 'official' definitions of social and moral issues; in
modern Greek his name is associated with thrasis, meaning someone
who is extremely rude), questioned Socrates' argument that laws ate
enacted to protect most citizens' interests and to draw acceptable
boundaries between right and wrong. Thrasymachus argued that it
does not matter whether you refer to states which are characterised
by 'tyranny' or 'democracy'. In each state, he said, 'power is in the
hands of the ruling class' (plato, 1 955:66). Thrasymachus went on to
explain his assertion in words which could easily have been 'lifted'
from the writings of interactionists, conflict and critical
criminologists:
Each ruling class makes laws that are in its own interest, a democracy
democratic laws, a tyranny tyrannical ones and so on; and in making
these laws they define as 'right' for their subjects what is in the interests
of themselves, the rulers, and if anyone breaks their laws he is punished as
a 'wrong-doer'. (plato, 1955:66; emphasis added)
As with all other theories, conflict and critical criminology adds new
knowledge to the 'puzzle' called crime by pointing out another social
dimension to engendering state control and keeping society orderly.
But conflict and critical criminology suffers from a number of
weaknesses - for example, the idea that social order and the result
ant consensus is the result of a process of 'mystification' (faylor et
aI., 1 973); a reality created by the powerful (faylor ei al., 1 975); and
that crime is merely the violation of ruling-<:lass legitimacy is rather
far-fetched. Although there is an attractive ring to the idea, if not
some truth in it, and for many people this may create some sort of
affinity with their personal values which criticise inequality and
injustice, it is difficult to know who exactly that 'ruling class' is. It is
folly to believe that the powerful and the ruling class are one and
the same socially identifiable and cohesive group. There is no
attempt to differentiate between elites and to discuss such elites and
power groups as competing enterprises. They are presented as a
homogeneous group that usually pulIs the strings. Such a view does
not reflect the real world of diversity, competing perspectives and
conflicts of interest: the powerful and the rich are often sharply in
competition for economic and political power, and the poor are
most of the time in competition amongst themselves rather than
with the higher-ups. It is unrealistic to believe that all the rich share
the same values and interests or that all the poor work together
against the common enemy: the rich, powerful and the state. Indeed,
one can argue that in the poorer areas of any given city it is the
horizontal competition and conflict (e.g. much crime is directed by
the poor against the poor), not vertical conflict (crimes against the
powerful) which is the norm.
Furthermore, it is difficult to relate much of crime to the notion
that it is political resistance against the powerful. It is questionable
whether individuals who commit crimes impute a political meaning
to their acts: 'I steal from you because that is my attempt to
challenge the existing social and political order'; 'As a man, I
commit crimes against women because I want to draw attention to
the inequalities which exist in this society and the role of
masculinity in this unequal relationship'. It is also questionable
whether stealing someone's jewels, antiques, money or other
possessions is likely to create a tremor, a social earthquake, which
will shake the social order and force it to collapse to be replaced
with something new.
A third criticism is that such theorists tend to underestimate the
benefits accrued for the poorer and more powerless groups in society
as a result of laws and changes in the laws. It is not acceptable
simply to argue that such groups are mystified and cajoled into
accepting the legitimacy of the social order created by the power
elites. In addition, once laws are enacted they can also be used, as
they have been (although not too often) to deal with crimes of the
powerful, and indeed against the very people who have enacted
them. In a similar vein, it is implausible to suggest that from the
underdog's point of view the commission of a criminal act is
symbolic of efforts to challenge the hegemony of the power elite,
when in fact much white-collar crime (and crimes of the powerful in
general) is committed and directed by such power elites against
other power elites. It is a contradiction in terms. First the theory
ignores these types of crime as they do not fit well into its schema,
and secondly it is difficult to envisage the same power elites which
exercise control over others conspiring behind the scenes to bring
down their own oligarchy.
A last illustration of the flaws in such an approach is the fact that
in trying to politicise crime, the theory, by implication, ignores or
underestimates the harm done by crime to victims (who, as said
earlier, are mainly 'powerless' people too). If crime is a political
challenge to the authority of the ruling class, then implicitly victims
of crime are rejected or written off as an unfortunate but un
avoidable aspect of the social struggle against 'tyranny'. It is almost
as though Napoleon's dictum that 'you cannot make an omelette
without breaking eggs' fits well with this theory. The problem is that
the broken eggs are real people living in the reality of crime
(irrespective of definitions) and the fear of crime.
It was left to other theorists - particularly a 'revisionist' group of
criminologists who had in the past espoused the merits of critical or
radical criminology - to attempt to consider the plight of victims in
the context of both micro- and macro-level relationships which
define, measure, react, shape and control crime. This is what is
known as realist criminology. Although there are important differ
ences between right realism (see Wilson, 1985) and left realism (see,
for instance, Matthews and Young, 1 992; Young and Matthews,
1992) and it is inappropriate to place them in one category (see
Williams, 1 994), in the main, at least in the British context, they are
keen to address just about every aspect of crime and prevention:
offenders, victims, crime rates, fear of crime, social control agencies,
public perceptions and reactions among others. In contrast to earlier
theory, realist criminologists recognise that crime inflicts harm on
property and people and creates further pockets of deprivation and
exclusion from normal social relationships. In addition to the actual
harm, it creates fear and thus has latent effects too. They recognise
that victimisation is far more horizontal in character than vertical:
that it takes place in the poorer and most socially and economically
deprived neighbourhoods which are least able either to resist crime
or to cope with its destructive effects. In contrast, the effects of
crime on more affluent people or neighbourhoods may have similar
harmful effects but such social groups or neighbourhoods can be
afforded better services (e.g. police support) and can draw on their
affluence to cope with economic and psychological consequences of
crime. In other words, they have the social and economic resources
to deal with crime far better than their poor counterparts. In
essence, realist criminologists distinguish between different people
(e.g. men and women, young and older people) and social contexts
in terms of how they experience and cope with crime.
Left realists (Matthews and Young, 1 992; Young and Matthews,
1 992) encompass diverse causes and explanations for crime but
are clear as to what they believe to be the most influential variable
in either increasing or decreasing crime: social and economic
deprivation, with a particular emphasis on the effects of relative
deprivation. This is the normative orientation which defines not
what people need in an absolute sense but what they think they
should have in order to feel they are sharing and achieving, with the
rest of the population, the same lofty goals. This explains the reason
why crime is rising at times of so-called affluence - because there is
injustice: people's relative expectations are heightened but few can
reach the level of existence which can allow them to satisfy their
relative needs. These people are mainly to be found in the mass of

the unemployed, minority ethnic groups or other marginalised
groups. Inevitably, crime rates will reflect an over-representation of
offenders from such groups as they are striving to use illicit methods
to satisfy their relative needs. The same illicit methods used as
means to achieve more social and material success are also em
ployed by affluent individuals in their search to satisfy even higher
goals. As higher goals are reached, relative deprivation creates new
depths, and so on.
In many ways, realist criminology has come full circle by
incorporating a number of features from other theories, particularly
restoring the earlier attraction of anomie theory in the Mertonian
sense. Simply, we are back to a disjunction between normative
orientation and social structure. The first prescribes the normative
goals (e.g. 'self-interest', 'richness', 'material possessions') and the
second provides the means. Unfortunately, as opportunities are few,
the desire to share others' success leads to crime. 'Greed', therefore,
as mentioned earlier, resurfaces as a corrupting element in the
process of feeling relatively deprived. Greed has no bounds: it
applies to both rich and poor. In consequence, realist criminologists
view the reduction of control of crime as a complex network of
activities which involve not only policing, community and neigh
bourhood schemes, situational controls, clear policies about victims
and so on, but also the incorporation of social policy which restores
justice {better housing, equal opportunities in the economy, better
education and so on) and decreases feelings of relative deprivation.
In all this, there is also the implicit Weberian notion that 'ideas' are
as important, if not more important, in generating praxis. Society
needs to be guided by notions of social responsibility and solidarity
as opposed to individualism, self-help (implying self-interest),
competition and divisions.
Other than being a wide assortment of theoretical positions and
dispositions, realist criminology is neither new nor particularly
sophisticated. It suffers from a measure of naivety, thinking that if
one considers all possible or relevant factors, crime becomes more
understandable as well as more amenable to control. In particular,
realist criminologists' notion that communities can be helped to
resist and fight crime through participation in the policing of their
own areas, or in closer collaboration with formal policing agencies,
or in closer work with victims is ambitious (see for instance, Smith,
1 995:92- 1 1 0; Pearson et al., 1 992). It ignores the diversities existing
in any single neighbourhood and the problems of maintaining the
community spirit in a cohesive and consistent way over a long
period of time. Any community worker who has attempted to enlist
the support of the 'community' to address social issues affecting

their lives will testify to the intractable problems faced when trying
to establish coalitions amongst diverse interests (Vass, 1 990:73-6);
and how problematic indeed · it is to attempt to enlist the support of
diverse agencies (Broad, 1996) in crime prevention (Gilling, 1996).
Finally, it is important to state that much of criminology and
discussions on crime and its causes is dominated by 'masculinity'.
Women have either been treated as peripheral to concerns about
crime, or if they have been the focus of study it is because masculine
criminology has treated them as an aberration which needed expla
nation. Feminist criminology has attempted to redress the imbalance
(see, for example, Buckley, 1 996; Campbell, 1984; Cornwall and
Lindisfane, 1 994; Carlen, 1988; Dobash and Dobash, 1 980;
Gelsthorpe,1 989; Gelsthorpe and Morris, 1 990; Heidensohn, 1 985;
Messerschmidt, 1 993; Simon, 1 975; Smart, 1 989).
The literature which has been generated by feminist criminology,
and its effects on criminology, is extensive and readers ought to
familiarise themselves with the debates and contributions (see Smith,
1 995; Williams, 1 994 for detailed reviews). David Smith's (1995: 1 1 3)
interpretation of the contribution of feminist criminology is worth
reproducing here:
feminist writing has enriched the discipline in four main ways. First, it
has shown that much previous criminology neglected the offending of
women almost entirely; it was simply assumed that when discussing
offenders one was discussing males. Alternatively, female offenders were
discussed in a way which emphasised individual abnormality and under
played the importance of social factors in understanding their offending;
even when sociological approaches had become dominant in criminology
as a whole, female offending was still generally 'explained' in terms of
biological or psychological abnormality. Secondly, feminist writing has
called attention to the treatment of females within the criminal justice
system. . . . Thirdly, feminism has opened out a new area of study in
stressing the importance of previously 'hidden' forms of crime such as
domestic violence and sexual abuse within the supposed safety of the
home . . . and how victims, or survivors, can best be supported. . . .
Finally . . . feminist writing has focused attention on the highly gendered
nature of criminal activity, asking both why females commit so few
offences and why males commit so many . . . [i.e.] what is it about
masculinity which makes being male the best predictor of offending?
A number of theories were discussed in this section. Explanations

of crime are varied and no single, general theory exists that captures
in any satisfactory way the complexity of this particular aspect of
social relationships. Although these and other explanations can
be conveniently separated into, say, distinct economic, biological,
psychological and sociological categories, this is somewhat arbitrary.
There is always an interplay of the various explanations and the

distinctions should be considered as blurred. Nonetheless, each
approach has and offers its own relevant knowledge and leads to
particular types of intervention and ways of working with offenders.
The organisation of the criminal justice system

Another important area which is relevant to competent work is
knowledge about the workings of the constituent parts of the
criminal justice system. Without an appreciation of the social
context of work with offenders it is not possible to understand policy
matters, power relationships and accountability.
The higber ecbelons The Home Secretary is responsible for policy

and is answerable to Parliament, though political theorists have
always raised questions about this ideal model of the democratic
process. They suggest that in reality, due to the 'prime ministerial
government' in this country and prime ministerial patronage
together with the inner circle of ministerial government, it is the
government that dictates to Parliament and the people. Nonetheless,
in theory at least, the minister is accountable to the 'people's
representatives' .
The Home Secretary and government colleagues in general are
legally advised by the government's Atto rney-Gen eral who is legally
,
qualified and a member of the government. The Attorney-General,

assisted by the Solicitor-General, offers legal assistance on points of
law, initiates legal action in regard to 'national matters' or the
'public interest' (e.g. when ex-members of the intelligence services
publish memoirs, as in the case of the late Peter Wright, which are
deemed to be a threat to national security, or when newspapers
breach sub judice rules). The Attorney-General's duties also include
direct advice to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). In effect, like
the Home Secretary, the Attorney-General is accountable to
Parliament for the way in which the CPS operates.
The probation service The Home Secretary sets policy, aims and
priorities for the probation service and the standards to which the
service works (e.g. Home Office, 1 995a; Home Office et aI., 1 995).
The Home Secretary is supported by the Home Office Probation
Service Division. Its purpose is:
• to develop and promote Government policy on the supervision of

offenders in the community and other aspects of probation practice
• to assist individual probation services to serve the courts and the
public in an efficient and effective way through:
effective and equitable practice
high standards of management

partnership with other statutory and non-statutory organisations.
(Home Office, 1995a:5)
HM Inspectorate of Probation reports to the Home Secretary on

aspects of quality. It inspects the performance of the probation
service and allied organisations, 'assessing quality and value for
money' (Home Office, 1 995a:6), and checks that courts, offenders
and the public receive effective and efficient service by those
working in probation and allied services. In addition, it advises the
Home Secretary on policy in regard to probation and other relevant
areas.
In England and Wales there are 56 probation committees or
boards which are responsible for local management of each service
(see Holdaway, 1996). These are local magistrates appointed by
the Lord Chancellor's Office, one or more judge from the Crown
Court, co-opted members and local authority members. They are
responsible for the appointment, remuneration and performance of
all staff. As their statutory duties are to ensure the provision of
services and that those services are efficient and effective, and they
control budgets in regard to expenditure, they are directly account
able to the Home Secretary.
Executive responsibility for the probation services' functions is
held by chief officers of probation. They are accountable to the
probation committees and their main role and task is management
of the service, strategic planning, monitoring and improving service
delivery, working within budgets and managing staff and recruit
ment.
Area services are financed through local authorities, which receive
80 per cent of expenditure from the Home Office. In 1 994-95
central government provided a total of £41 7 million for offender
programmes, probation in prisons, probation service expenditure
and capital grants and credit approvals. In 1995-96 this was
reduced to £4 1 2 million, and projections for the next two years
estimate expenditure at approximately £424 million per annum
(Home Office, 1995b: 1 l).
The police Since October 1 986, following the introduction of the

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the police have ceased to act as
prosecutors. Nonetheless, the majority of prosecutions in England
and Wales are initiated and prepared by the police in the form of
laying charges or information against suspects. The police carry out
preliminary investigations prior to considering what action to take
and thus they provide a screening process which determines who will
be prosecuted. As argued earlier, their part in this process defines

knowledge about crime, statistics and, in a sense (subject to the
CPS's decisions) the number of court cases. In effect they are an
agency which is not only actively involved in the prosecution of
offenders but also has the power to socially construct crime and
reactions to it.
The police and CPS work closely together since they remain the
official and legitimate agency which is vested with the powers to
investigate the case or evidence further and report such further
inquiries back to CPS. Additionally, their close relationship with
CPS is governed by the fact that they are, after all, the Crown's
main witnesses in cases where CPS recommends prosecution. It is
important to emphasise that the police's task is to investigate the
commission of a crime and initiate prosecutions. It is up to the CPS
to weigh up the evidence and decide whether the case merits
continuation in the courts. The actual presentation of the case
against a suspect in court is the CPS's role, not the police's.
As in the case of probation services, the police are made up of
various forces, which can exhibit serious differences from each other.
They are headed by a chief officer (Chief Constable) except the City
of London and Metropolitan police forces, which are headed by a
Commissioner. The chief officer is responsible for the force's
reputation, efficiency and budgetary aspects and for general or
specific policy including decisions about commencing investigations
and prosecutions of suspects. Each force is directly accountable to a
police authority which involves local authority representatives
including magistrates. The Home Office retains direct responsibility
for the City of London and Metropolitan forces. As Sprack (1 995)
explains, the police authority's powers to interfere with the day-to
day organisational issues and decisions of police forces are limited.
Indeed, 'the police authority should not interfere in operational
terms. . . . In particular, they should not interfere with the police
discretion on whether or not to commence prosecutions, either by
seeking to influence general policy on the kinds of cases in which
prosecutions are appropriate or by ordering a prosecution in a
particular case' (Sprack, 1 995:5).
The Crown Prosecution Service Staff are accountable to the chief

crown prosecutors who lead the various geographical areas of the
service. There are 3 1 areas that make up the CPS which 'correspond
roughly to the areas of the 43 police forces in England and Wales'
(Sprack, 1 995:6). Within each area there are barristers or solicitors
designated as crown prosecutors, whose task is to conduct criminal
proceedings. These crown prosecutors can represent the service in
magistrates' courts but not in the Crown Court. Proceedings in the

Crown Court are conducted by private barristers hired by the CPS.
The chief crown prosecutors are, in turn, accountable to the
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who holds full responsibility
for all proceedings, the conduct of proceedings and advice to police
forces, and who presents witnesses for the prosecution as directed by
the court, and carries out any other functions as requested by the
Attorney-General (Sprack, 1 995).
Courts Matters which may be of importance in deciding what type

of court will deal with criminal cases include the age of the offender
and whether the offence is triable only on indictment, summarily or
either way. Offences which are triable only on indictment (e.g.
murder, manslaughter) must be dealt with by the Crown Court.
Summary offences, which are deemed to be less serious, are
normally dealt with by magistrates' courts. Offences that are triable
either way (i.e. on indictment or summarily) can be dealt with by
either magistrates or the Crown Court. This depends on whether the
accused opts for trial in the Crown Court or the magistrates
consider that their powers to deal with the seriousness of the offence
are inadequate and thus may refer the case to the Crown Court.
The age of the defendant is crucial in deciding where the case will
be tried. Generally, adult offenders (aged 1 8 or over) are sentenced
in the magistrates' court or the Crown Court depending on the
seriousness of the offence. Under the Criminal Justice Act 1991,
those aged 1 7 and under are normally dealt with in the youth court
though occasionally they may be tried on indictment if the offence is
of such a serious nature that the Children and Young Persons Act
1 933 section 53(2) is invoked. The type of sentence available for
each group (particularly for juveniles aged 10-17) is determined by
the age of the offender at the time of conviction and not the time of
the commission of the offence.
In the Crown Court there are five types of judge. High Court
judges who are normally attached to the Queen's Bench Division
(which deals with civil matters beyond the jurisdiction of the county
court and appeals on point of law from the magistrates' court) are
full-time judges. They may sit in the Crown Court and normally
deal with the most serious criminal cases (e.g. class I offences such
as treason, murder and offences against national security, and class
2 offences such as infanticide, rape and manslaughter). Subject to
approval by the Lord Chief Justice, trial for murder may be
conducted by a circuit judge whilst class 2 offences can be tried by
either a High Court Judge or a circuit judge.
Circuit judges, who are also full-time, are appointed on the Lord
Chancellor's recommendation. Their responsibilities cover both the

Crown Court and county courts. They are appointed from barristers
with at least ten years' experience or from recorders who have held
office for more than three years. Retirement is normally at 72
though they may be allowed to continue in service until the age
of 75.
Recorders are normally barristers or solicitors with a minimum of
ten years' experience and their appointment by the Lord Chancellor,
to sit at the Crown Court, is for a fixed period and on a part-time
basis.
Additionally, if there is considerable pressure on the Crown Court
and it appears not to be coping with the number of cases, the Lord
Chancellor may appoint retired judges (Lord Justices of Appeal,
High Court or circuit judges) as deputy circuit judges to assist in the
process. Assistant recorders can also be appointed for the same
reason from the ranks of barristers or solicitors with a minimum of
ten years' experience.
Magistrates, on the other hand, are by and large 'lay justices',
that is to say, unpaid men and women who may or may not have
any legal training. They are appointed by the Lord Chancellor on
the advice of local committees. Although in recent times attempts
have been made to appoint magistrates from diverse social and
ethnic backgrounds, the majority still represent the wealthy, white,
middle-class business and other interests. A minority are paid, fuU
time 'stipendiary magistrates', qualified lawyers who are formally
appointed on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. These come from
the ranks of barristers or solicitors with a minimum of seven years'
standing.
In view of the fact that the majority of magistrates have no legal
training, much authority is vested in the hands of the clerk to
the justices who is normally helped by a deputy or assistant. The
clerk is normally required to be a barrister or solicitor with at least
five years' experience. As Wasik (1 993:42, emphasis in original)
states:
Case-law stresses that the clerk's task is to advise the magistrates on

matters of sentencing law and procedure, and not to inflwmce their
decision on the facts. In practice, however, this sharp distinction is a
rather difficult one to achieve and in some cases, the clerk may have a
significant influence upon the bench's sentencing decision.
Finally, proceedings in the youth court are conducted by magistrates

who are elected (every three years) to sit on a special youth court
panel and who are given specific training in dealing with juveniles.
Only this panel of elected members can summarily try juveniles. The
youth court must sit with at least two magistrates; no stipendiary

magistrate is allowed to sit alone.
Above and beyond those three courts there is the High Court
which is made up of three divisions. The Queen's Bench Division
deals with appeals from magistrates' courts on point of law and with
civil matters which are beyond the powers of the county courts. The
Chancery Division is mainly concerned with disputes in regard to
taxes and trusts. The Family Division has similar responsibilities to
the family proceedings and county courts.
The Court of Appeal comprises two divisions, one (the Criminal
Division, headed by the Lord Chief Justice) dealing with cases
referred to it on appeal by the Crown Court; and the other (Civil
Division, headed by the Master of the Rolls) which deals with
appeals from the High and county courts. The Court of Appeal
interprets the law and as such its decisions set legal precedents.
The House of Lords is the highest body, and deals with points of
law which are regarded to be of extreme public significance.
Reference to the House of Lords can take place only with the
consent of the Court of Appeal. Its membership consists of five of
the most senior Law Lords, and their decision is binding.
Sentencing and national standards

This section will concentrate on community penalties (Vass, 1 996) or
as the law (Criminal Justice Act 1 991) and national standards
(Home Office et aI., 1 995) refers to them, 'community sentences' (see
also Ward and Ward, 1 993). For a wider coverage of sentencing
issues, the law and sentencing principles the reader should consult
other texts (see Geary, 1 994; Sprack, 1 995; Wasik, 1993; Wasik and
Taylor, 1 99 1).
The range of sentences available to courts is often referred to as
the 'tariff', as they represent a 'ladder' of disposals according to
their severity. However, it must be stressed that although one can
build a convenient ladder with each step (sentencing option) leading
to a higher and more severe penalty, courts are not always
predictable and the tariff is not always followed in rigid fashion by
sentencers. Notwithstanding that qualification, at the bottom of the
ladder there are the discharge orders and fines. These are followed
by community sentences: probation, community service order, com
bination order, attendance centre order and curfew order (though
the last of these still remains inactivated). At the top of the ladder sit
suspended sentences of imprisonment and custody for both adults
(imprisonment for anyone aged 21 and over) and juveniles (deten
tion in a young offenders' institution for those aged 1 5 to 20).
In trying to reach a decision on the appropriate sentence, courts
are faced with four questions. First, is the sentence for the offence
fixed by law (e.g. murder and high treason)? If so, there is little
choice but to follow the rules. Secondly, if not fixed by law, the
court must consider what options are available to it in deciding the
appropriate sentence and the specific circumstances within which
each option can be available (e.g. age of the offender, maximum
penalty, pre-sentence reports). Thirdly, there is the seriousness of the
offence and 'what level of sentence would properly reflect the
seriousness of the offence', although 'It is very difficult to define
"seriousness" in the abstract, and no attempt is made to do so in
existing sentencing law' (Wasik, 1 993:54). Fourthly, are there any
mitigating circumstances which need to be taken into account?
In addition to those questions courts as well as other agencies in
the criminal justice system must consider how to avoid discrimi
nation 'on the ground of race or sex or any other improper ground'
(Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 , section 95).
There is considerable debate about whether sentencing patterns
vary according to race but recent findings appear to suggest that
when all the intervening variables are taken into account (e.g. nature
of the offence, previous convictions) there are no statistically
significant differences in the sentencing pattern for black, Asian and
white offenders. The higher number of black offenders receiving
custodial and longer sentences in comparison to white offenders is
more a function of the seriousness of the offences than of race
(Hood, 1 993). However, the findings also show that black and Asian
defendants are less likely to have pre-sentence reports prepared for
them by the probation service and where such reports are prepared
these offenders are less likely to be recommended for probation
(evidence suggests that the same applies to other community
penalties: see Vass, 1 996).
As regards gender issues, there is clear evidence that there are
distinct differences between the way courts deal with men and
women. Women are less likely to be given a community service
order but are more likely to be given a probation or supervision
order, for example. Also, when all age groups are considered for
indictable offences, women are more likely to be given a discharge
order than men. Women, nonetheless, are found to be less 'criminal'
than men (law-breaking is mainly a male 'preoccupation') and their
offences are less serious; they also have less serious criminal records
(Home Office, 1 992).
For a range of penal sanctions, including custodial sentences,
available to courts see the summary in Jones et al. (1 992) and for
greater detail refer to Sprack (1995:229-3 1 1) and Wasik (1 993:79-
363). For a detailed discussion on community sentences see above,
and also Home Office et al. ( 1 995) and Ward and Ward ( 1 993). In
this section we will summarise the major points about community
penalties which should guide the practice of anyone working with
offenders, though again it should be strongly emphasised that
practitioners must ensure that they familiarise themselves with the
full and often complex details of available sanctions. Furthermore, it
must be remembered that knowledge, as argued in Chapter 1 , is a
dynamic process which has a career: it constantly changes. Available
sanctions are modified or amended by law, or are discontinued or
complemented by new requirements or other penalties and so on.
Thus whilst one may currently refer to 'community sentences' under
the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 , in future this may change under new
legislation which may extend the present range of community
penalties or introduce 'a single integrated sentence incorporating the
. . . range of community orders' currently available (Home Office,
1 995a: 1 9). Facts about penal sanctions, types, requirements and so
forth must not be taken for granted as they may be dated and thus
inapplicable. Practitioners must always strive to keep up with
changes in the legislation and ensure that they possess all the
relevant knowledge about each penalty as it applies to their working
environment. Similarly, other than the knowledge of what is
available and under what conditions, the practitioner should be
familiar with the procedural aspects of the supervision of offenders
and the application of those sanctions. In sum, the motto of every
student and practitioner ought to be: a law is for today, not for
tomorrow.
There is much confusion about what exactly 'community penal
ties', or 'community sentences' or more generally 'non-custodial
options' really entail in practice. As pointed out elsewhere they
normally refer to a 'wide assortment of tasks and dispositions' which
lack clarity (Vass, 1 996). In this section 'community sentences' and
'community penalties' will be used interchangeably to refer to the six
community orders incorporated within the framework of the
Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 : probation, community service, combi
nation, curfew, supervision and attendance centre orders. All, except
the supervision order and attendance centre order, are available for
all offenders aged 1 6 or over. The supervision order is available
for those aged 1 0 to 1 7 years inclusive; and the attendance centre
order for anyone aged 1 0 to 20 years inclusive. In view of the fact
that attendance centre orders are not supervised by the probation
service or social services departments and are the prerogative of the
police; and the curfew order, though introduced by the Criminal
Justice Act 1 99 1 , is not yet implemented (but see Home Office,
1 995a for new intentions), they will not be covered in this chapter
and the reader is referred to other sources (for example, Ward and
Ward, 1 993).
Community penalties developed 'piecemeal over many years. The
last substantively new penalty to be introduced was community
service [order] in 1 973' (Home Office, 1995a:5). The Criminal Justice
Act 1 99 1 extended the range of community orders, established them
within a common framework and made the probation order for the
first time a sentence of the court (rather than in lieu of a sentence).
This common framework is guided by the notion of proportionality.
It requires that community penalties 'can only be imposed where the
relevant offences, taking account of previous offences or failure to
respond to previous sentences, are "serious enough" for such a
sentence but not "so serious" that only custody is justified' (Home
Office, 1 995a:6). Community sentences are intended to punish
offenders by restricting their liberty but without segregating them
from their communities. Certain community penalties (the pro
bation, community service, combination and curfew orders and
where certain special requirements are included in a supervision
order: see Sprack, 1 995:286) can be imposed only if offenders give
their consent (though this matter of consent is under review: see
Home Office, 1 995a).
It is the task of the courts, not the probation officer or other
practitioners, to apply the law by imposing community penalties.
The role of the social worker or probation officer is to assist the
court in its sentencing decisions. One way which enables the court to
consider the relevant information before considering the appro
priateness of a community penalty is the production of a pre
sentence report (PSR) (for a detailed discussion on PSRs see Smith,
1 996). Under the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 , PSRs, which have
replaced the social inquiry reports, are mandatory for the following
community penalties:
• a probation order with additional requirements;
• a community service order;
• a combination order;
• a supervision order with specific requirements under the Children
and Young Persons Act 1969 section 1 2 (A, AA, B, C).
However, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1 994 has
amended the above requirement and courts may use their discretion
in deciding whether a PSR is necessary or unnecessary for offenders
aged 1 8 or over. Despite this amendment, the courts are still
required to consider all information about the circumstances of the
offence, including any aggravating or mitigating factors, that is
available to them. Where courts may require a PSR, 'this may
include an indication of the expected level of supervision, together

with some elements of the content of any particular order which is
proposed. Following the National Standards review, an outline
supervision plan will become a required feature of a PSR' (Home
Office, 1 995a:8).
The national standards (Home Office et aI., 1 995) set out the
requirements for preparing PSRs. The basic tenets are thus: a report
should be impartial, balanced and factually accurate as far as
possible. Its purpose is to provide 'a professional assessment' of the
circumstances, nature and causes of an individual's crime and what
action is proposed to reduce the likelihood of re-offending. If an
offender does not consent to the preparation of a PSR and the court
still requires one, the practitioner must strive to produce a report
'using the information available' and explain to the court that the
offender was uncooperative. The offender (or those with parental
responsibility, as in the case with young offenders) should be given
at least two opportunities for the preparation of the report; and
'reasonable' steps should be taken to collect additional information
from other sources (in the case of a young offender a school report
may be relevant). The attempts to collate information and the
sources of information should be made clear in the report. It is also
important that the report writer consults with the police with regard
to antecedents and relevant circumstances. If an offender is unable
to communicate effectively (due to language differences, hearing
difficulties or other reasons) it is expected that an 'accredited
interpreter' will be used.
There has been a very long debate about how best to present
reports (see Smith, 1 996). National standards specify a format for
good practice. The front sheet which normally contains the
individual and personal details of the offender, the court, the court
hearing date, and the name of the report writer, should also include
a headline paragraph which states: 'This is a pre-sentence report as
defined in section 3(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 . It has been
prepared in accordance with the requirements of the National
Standards for pre-sentence reports. This report is a confidential
document' (Home Office et al., 1 995:8).
The main report should have five major sections: an introduction,
a discussion and analysis of the offence, the relevant information
about the offender, the risk to the public of re-offending and a
conclusion which ties up loose ends and which flows 'logically and
directly from the rest of the report' (Home Office et al., 1 995 : 1 1).
For a full statement on the required standards and what information
should be covered under each heading, refer to Home Office et aI.
(1995 : 8 - 1 6; see also Smith, 1 996).
Some basic things to remember in preparing reports are as

follows:
• The sources of information must always be made clear.

• If an interpreter has been used, this must be indicated.
• The status of the offender (that is to say, is he/she known to the
report writer, probation service or social services department?)
must be given.
• A balanced picture of the offender (strengths and weaknesses)
must be given.
• The report need not, and normally should not, include full
details of the offender's criminal history (this is the prosecution's
task).
• Information should be limited to what is relevant to sentencing.
• The report should be written in a clear language, free of jargon,
be coherent, accurate and concise without grammatical and
spelling errors.
In reports presented for the youth court, it is imperative that the

writer takes into account the Children and Young Persons Act 1 933
section 44 which 'requires the court to have regard for the welfare of
the individual. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child, to which the United Kingdom is a signatory, also requires
that in all actions concerning children, i.e. those aged below 1 8
years, i n courts of law the best interests of the child shall be the
primary consideration' (Home Office et al., 1 995 : 1 3).
Finally, matters of confidentiality need to be taken into con
sideration. Reports should not be distributed or disclosed beyond
the confines of the case (courts) without the offender's consent.
The offender is entitled to be given a copy of the report by the
probation service or social services department, and this 'should be
read aloud to those who cannot read, or read aloud in translation
for those whose first language is not English' (Home Office et al.,
1 995: 14).
A probation order may be made on an offender aged 16 years or
over. This requires the individual to be under the supervision of the
probation service for a period of not less than six months and not
more than three years. Additional requirements can be included
(Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 , Part II, schedule 1). These may be a
residence requirement, a treatment requirement, a probation centre
requirement, an 'active' requirement (that is to say, to participate in
certain prescribed activities) or a 'negative' requirement (that is to
say, the court may prohibit the offender from participating in
specified activities).
The objectives of the order are to 'secure the rehabilitation of the
offender', to 'protect the public from harm' and to 'prevent the

offender from committing further offences' . It is expected that the
supervising officer will challenge offenders to accept responsibility
for their crimes and their consequences and make 'offenders aware
of the impact of the crimes they have committed on victims, the
community and themselves' (Home Office et al., 1 995: 1 7).
The supervising officer should arrange a meeting with the offender
within five working days of the making of the order. The offender
should be served with a copy of the order and asked to sign; be
issued with instructions stating the required standards of behaviour
and the consequences which may follow if they are not adhered to.
All the information should be available in languages other than
English if required and should be clearly explained to those who
cannot read. It is important that probation officers and social
workers are aware of any difficulties offenders may experience
(language barriers, hearing or reading difficulties) which may
prevent them from fully understanding their obligations and rela
tionship with the supervising officer. The exploration of these
matters requires skill and sensitivity, as something which is taken for
granted (for instance, that everyone should be able to read these
days) may be far from the truth and such an assumption may cause
severe embarrassment or guilt.
The national standards require that supervision is placed in the
context of a 'supervision plan' which accounts for the timing,
content, methods and outcomes of the sessions held between the
parties (see Home Office et al., 1 995: 1 9-21). A copy of this plan,
which should be formed in consultation with the offender, should
be given to the offender within ten days of the making of the
order. This plan is open to review and amendments as necessary in
the course of supervision. A review should take place every three
months to consider progress. It is a requirement that the offender
attends a minimum of twelve appointments, normally weekly, with
the supervising officer in the first three months of the making of
the order. These can be reduced to six in the following three
months; and thereafter meetings should take place at least once a
month.
If offenders violate the requirements of their order, and if the
failure is deemed not to be serious, they should be made to explain
their behaviour within two working days. A record should be made
of the failure to comply with requirements if the reason given is
unacceptable and the offenders should be given a formal warning.
Two formal warnings within any twelve-month period of the order
may lead to 'breach proceedings'. However, if the failure to comply
with requirements is deemed to be serious, proceedings under the
Criminal Justice Act 199 1 can be taken at any stage in the order
'and without prior warning' (Home Office et al., 1 995:22).
A community service order can only be imposed on anyone aged
1 6 years or over for an imprisonable offence. It can range between
40 and 240 hours. Its main objective is to 'punish' the offender 'by
means of positive and demanding unpaid work' and to achieve
'reparation to the community'.
As in the case of the probation order, the first work session must
start within ten days of the making of the order and relevant
information including requirements and consequences that will
follow if those requirements are not adhered to should be given to
the offender. Once again, such information must take account of the
offender's language, hearing, speech, reading or other difficulties and
steps should be taken to ensure that such information is understood
by the offender.
National standards stipulate that no more than 21 hours per week
should be worked, that work should not conflict with the offender's
entitlement to welfare benefits, and 'if unemployed, CS placements
should not prevent the offender from being readily available to seek
or take up employment' (Home Office et al., 1 995:37). All hours of
work done should be properly recorded but cancellations due to bad
weather should not, unless the supervisor requires the offender to
remain on site. In this case only up to half an hour can be credited
for work performed (see Vass, 1984 for the background to these
arrangements and the development of national standards). Half an
hour can be credited for meal breaks, if taken in the course of work.
In the past, travel time was also credited, at the discretion of
supervising officers (Vass, 1 984); under the national standards travel
time to or from community service pl acements which exceeds half
an hour should be credited but the overall total should not be more
than 1 0 per cent of the hours prescribed.
As in the case of probation orders, offenders' behaviour must be
monitored. Progress should be reviewed once a week and any
apparent failure to comply with requirements should be acted upon
within two working days. If the explanation is not deemed to be
acceptable, the failure should be formally recorded as a clear instance
of failure to comply with the order. In such cases, a formal written
warning of the consequences should be given to the offender. 'At
most two warnings within any 1 2 month period of the order may be
given before breach proceedings are instituted' (Home Office et al.,
1 995: 39). However, breach proceedings can be instituted at any stage
in the order and without prior warning if the failure to comply is
regarded as serious. If proceedings are contemplated, these should be
initiated within ten working days of the offence committed.
The combination order combines probation with community

service. The probation element must be for a minimum of twelve
months and a maximum of three years, and the community service
order of 40 to 1 00 hours. As in the case of community service, the
combination order is available only for offences punishable with
imprisonment.
The declared purpose of the combination order is to secure the
rehabilitation of the offender; to protect the public from harm; and
to prevent the offender from committing further offences (which are
similar to the probation order's purpose). The other part reflects the
basic tenets of the community service order: punishment and
reparation to the community.
Supervision should commence within five working days and the
first community service session is to take place within ten days of the
making of the order. Information, requirements and expectations as
well as reviews of progress, formal warnings and breach proceedings
should follow the standards laid out with regard to probation orders
and community service orders.
As in the case of the community service order, although the
legislation stipulates (and expects) that combination orders are
imposed on 'serious offenders', in practice this is not so. Courts
appear to be over-zealous in imposing any sanction they regard as
appropriate for the occasion if others are not seen to be appropriate.
In 1 993 out of nearly 9,000 combination orders made, 70 per cent
were made in magistrates' courts and 7 per cent in the youth court
for offences which could not be deemed to be 'serious' under the
original intentions of the legislation (Criminal Justice Act 199 1) and
the national standards (Home Office et al., 1 992). As a result the
revised national standards (Home Office et al., 1 995) 'recognise that
the application of the combination order to a wider range of
offenders is appropriate' (Home Office, 1 995a: 1 S).
The Crown Court or the youth court is empowered to make a
supervision order for any offender aged 10 to 17 inclusive. An order
may require the offender to be under the supervision of a probation
officer or a social services department for a period of up to three
years. Under the Children and Young Persons Act 1 969 the court is
empowered to make specific requirements that may be included in a
supervision order. These are as follows: residence with a named
person (section 1 2(1» ; to comply with any directions given by the
supervisor (section 1 2(2» ; to participate in specified activities (section
1 2A(3» ; to live in local authority accommodation for up to six
months (section 1 2AA); treatment of a mental condition (section
1 2B(l » ; to comply with education arrangements (section 1 2C); and
to comply with such other provisions prescribed by the court (section
1 8(29» . Unlike the probation order, the offender is not required to

consent to the making of a supervision order. Commission of a new
offence while under an order does not normally render the offender
liable to be sentenced for the original offence. If offenders do not
comply with requirements and breach proceedings are initiated, they
cannot be sentenced for the original offence; they may be fined or
given an attendance centre order instead.
The purpose of the supervision order is not dissimilar to that of
the probation order. An order's objective should be to secure the
rehabilitation of the offender, to protect the public from harm, and
to prevent the offender from committing further offences. Com
mencement requirements and standards, the supervision plan,
record-keeping and review of progress, frequency of contact and
procedure for the enforcement of an order, which apply to the
probation order, also apply to the supervision order (see above,
pp. 1 77-8). However, there are certain differences, particularly with
regard to the involvement of adults in the process (for example
parents or other carers). Under 'methods' the national standards for
the supervision order stipulate 'working with others to resolve
personal difficulties': this may include the offender's family, school
careers office, local education authority, housing department, social
security office, employment or training provider (Home Office et al.,
1 995:28). Reviewing progress should also involve the parents or
other carers where appropriate. When enforcement of the order is
required the parents of other carers should again be involved, and
where formal warnings are given, the supervising officer should
ensure that the offender and the parents 'or other responsible adult'
understand the warning and its implications.
Supervision before and after release from custody

It is not just supervision of offenders sentenced to community
penalties which practitioners need to be well informed about. There
is also the work done with prisoners and supervision after release
(see Williams, 1 996). National standards cover
the supervision by the probation service and local authority social

services departments of offenders both before and after release from
custody. The standard relates to those offenders sentenced to 1 2 months
or more (excluding life sentence prisoners) and young offenders serving
less than 1 2 months who are supervised under section 65 of the Criminal
Justice Act 1 99 1 . It also applies to young offenders serving determinate
sentences under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993.
(Home Office et al., 1 995:43; for a discussion of what knowledge and
skills are required, see Williams, 1 996)
Child protection
Another area which requires attention is child protection in the
context of working with offenders. Jones et ai. ( 1 992: 1 39) put the
case thus:
The probation service is not of course primarily a child protection

agency. However, there are two sets of circumstances in which probation
officers can become involved with child protection issues:
- When the service has an involvement with a member of a household
where a child is considered to be at risk of physical, sexual, or
emotional abuse or neglect;
- When the service has an involvement with a client who is identified
specifically as representing a risk to children.
Between them, these categories embrace a range of possibilities

including both statutory and voluntary clients, and those upon whom
reports are being prepared.
As referred to in Chapter 4 in this volume, in such cases, irrespective

of context, the welfare of the child is the first consideration and
'supersedes everything else' (Jones et aI., 1 992: 1 39). As in other cases
of good practice and the evidence that has accrued from the various
inquiries into child abuse and neglect, the important thing is to
know and follow procedures and guidelines laid down by official
bodies or the employing organisation (for useful guidance see Jones
et aI., 1 992: ch. 9).
The effectiveness of intervention and sanctions

Another aspect of knowledge which is essential in being a competent
practitioner is familiarity with debates and research findings about
the effectiveness of intervention, what methods appear to yield better
results than others, what penal sanctions seem to promote more
adjustment in the community and which seem to suit some offenders
or types of offences more than others (see May and Vass, 1 996,
particularly chs 8, 10, 1 1 and 1 2).
Although the issue of effectiveness is far from clear and as a
concept may imply different things to different people (see Vass,
1 996), there is a body of knowledge which suggests types of inter
vention which may appear more positive than others. For example,
according to Fischer (1 976, 1 978), supervision and counselling that
follow a clear and structured approach to problems, enabling them
to be discussed and understood by the participants, is more
successful in achieving positive outcomes than work which lacks
clarity, openness and concreteness. Similarly, probation effectiveness
(rates of reconviction and diversion from custody) appears to
increase when aims are clearly specified and pursued (Raynor, 1 988).
Intensive supervision, which combines a clear structure with clear

aims but is still processed via social work principles, appears to yield
better results than had been anticipated (Mair et al., 1 994). In toto,
as Raynor (1 996) suggests, there are three areas which provide a
promising and fertile ground for delivering an effective service: good
programmes are characterised by targeting offenders at high risk
of re-offending and the circumstances which contribute to their
offending; content and delivery are structured, with clear goals and
means which are designed to maximise and reinforce learning; and
effective programmes are guided by proper management, well
trained staff who are concerned about effectiveness and adequate
resources; finally, we will add, no programme can be judged,
reviewed and amended for improvements unless it is evaluated (see
Raynor and Vanstone, 1994).
There are, however, serious limitations to the above type of work.
Although such structured and carefully planned work with offenders
may yield encouraging results, it is expensive in the long term and as
it is highly intensive, it is limited in its capacity to accommodate
large numbers of offenders.
The evidence is not clear-cut about any form of intervention or
penal sanction and the evidence may sometimes run contrary to
expectation. For instance, it is not clear why offenders sentenced to
a probation order with 4N4B requirements (that is, with specific
requirements) should have a higher reconviction rate (of nearly 10
per cent) than prison, 20 per cent more than straight probation and
14 per cent more than community service (Lloyd et al., 1994).
However, one needs to be careful in interpreting such findings
(Vass, 1 996) because they may not mean that probation with day
centre requirements is less effective than the rest. There are other
factors which need to be taken into account (for example char
acteristics of offenders, the actions of supervising officers in report
ing technical or real offences, the mechanics of law enforcement
and so on).
This aspect of effectiveness is, as Raynor (1996) points out,
neglected by national standards. Although national standards are
designed to increase consistency and efficiency, they lack 'a primary
focus on effectiveness'. For example, as Raynor adds, national
standards do not differentiate between high- and low-risk offenders
and yet there is evidence to suggest that supervision which may be
appropriate for high-risk offenders may not be so for low-risk
offenders.
In summary to this section on knowledge, the acquisition of
'intellectual qualities . . . [is] rooted in the very substance of working
with offenders: a knowledge-base which serves to enlighten and
critically evaluate the issues, contexts and outcomes of intervention'

(Boswell, 1996) is a requirement.
The essential skills of 'Working witb offenders

A skill is the ability to practise or perform tasks which demonstrate
'expertness'. A combination of knowledge, values and skills, we have
argued, develops competence at expected standards. CCETSW
(1995) specifies the areas where social workers and probation officers
need to demonstrate competence. They need to be able to com
municate and engage, promote and enable, assess and plan, under
stand people and the impact of change, assess need and care planning,
intervene and provide services, contribute to the work of the
organisation, manage and evaluate their own capacity to develop
professional competence.
Chapter 3 covered the above, under the headings cognitive skills,
administrative skills, interpersonal skills, decision-making skills and
use and management of resources. These skills apply to every social
context of work with offenders and it is not necessary to repeat them
here. Nonetheless, when these different headings or concepts are
looked at afresh (and in combination with knowledge and critical
analysis) some specific skills become particularly evident as well as
important in any situation which involves the supervision of
offenders. As Boswell (1 996) has provided a succinct summary of
these essential skills, we will use her work to draw attention to their
significant attributes. From Boswell's (1996) work, one can identify
the following essential skills (see also Jones et ai., 1 992):
• communication (including listening, oral and written);
• assessment and evaluation (including report-writing and record-
keeping (see Jones et ai., 1 992: ch. 10);
• intervention;
• relating knowledge to practice;
• forming and maintaining professional relationships;
• managing and coping with workload;
• use of self.
As the use of the self and self-awareness is a process which relates to
every other skill at any given moment in time and social interaction,
self-evaluation and critical self-appraisal becomes necessary. Boswell
offers a framework for self-monitoring and self-evaluation as a basis
for action which operates along normal 'research' lines. That is to
say, in the same way in which one defines the topic, research topic,
methodology, collection of facts, analysis and interpretations, con
clusions and recommendations, a practitioner can also refer to a
simple revision of that format by raising and acting on the following

issues (Boswell, 1 996):
1 . What are my goals and desired standards?

2. What means are at my disposal to carry through these goals and
what means exist for evaluating progress?
3. What knowledge do I have and how can it help me understand
the issues, contexts and outcomes?
4. What are my own perspectives?
5. Collect and collate data (assessments, evaluations, record
keeping) which give you an indication of how you are doing.
6. Interpret the findings (which should answer the question 'what
does all this mean?')
7. Use the findings to make recommendations (for example, 'how
do I improve my performance?')
8. Review the performance at a later stage in the light of new
developments and changes undertaken or imposed from outside.
Conclusion
In this chapter we have covered what we regard to be the most

fundamental areas of knowledge, values and skills which combine
with understanding to create competent practitioners. It is important
to say that being 'competent' does not mean that there is a limit to
what can be achieved: our argument has been throughout this book
that nothing is static. Everything is changeable and negotiable. As
such, what is competent in one instance and is transferable to
another may require further changes and amendments to ensure that
none of the components of that competence (knowledge, values and
skills) remain isolated, static and dated. For proper and confident
performance those constituent parts must work in synergy.
Having said that it must be stressed too that no individual should
be regarded as 'incompetent'. As the Home Office Probation Train
ing Unit (probation Training Unit, 1994: 1 ) recognises, 'We are all
competent in different ways. We may think we can do some things
well, but probably accept that there is always some room for
improvement.' That is the gist of what good practice is: avoiding
the urge to devalue others and ourselves but at the same time
recognising that improvements are always called for.
CCETSW's own statement about competence in social work
provides a useful summary with which to conclude this chapter
(CCETSW, 1 995:3):
Competence in social work is the product of knowledge, skills and values.
In order to provide evidence that they have been achieved . . . students
will have to demonstrate that they have: met practice requirements,

integrated social work [probation1 values; acquired and applied
knowledge; and reflected upon and critically analysed their practice and
transferred knowledge, skills and values in practice. . . . It is only practice
which is founded on values, carried out in a skilled manner and informed
by knowledge, critical analysis and reflection which is competent practice.
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7
Competence in Social Work

and Probation Practice
In the previous chapters we covered the knowledge base, values and

skills of social work. We then referred to three major social work
areas of work (pathways): children and families; community care
and social work with adults; and crime, probation and social work
with offenders. In this final chapter we will cover the major com
petences which students and other practitioners (in any context of
social work, including probation) need to demonstrate in practice
for effective and reliable professional performance.
However, before we refer to practice learning and requirements
for competent social work and probation practice, it would be useful
to provide a brief summary of the major themes identified in the
preceding chapters and how the three areas of knowledge, values
and skills combine to create competent practitioners.
Knowledge base
We pointed out the need for practitioners to be rigorous in their

acquisition of knowledge and be able to upgrade, improve, amend
and select knowledge relevant to their practice. We argued that
competence which is regarded as something acquired by merely
learning a task (for example, as in the case of someone who is
taught to follow procedure in fitting or repairing an electrical
appliance) is not appropriate for social work and probation
contexts. Merely learning a task without the ability to conceptualise
and transfer information and ideas from one case or context of work
to another (just because they are not identical or because they do
not appear to share an affinity with each other) is insufficient. Such
an approach leaves too many deficiencies, becomes an embarrass
ment, a hindrance to the task and effectively a serious liability.
For us, the above simplistic and mechanical approach to com
petence is not only unacceptable and inappropriate. We also
consider it to be alien to the purpose of social work and probation
practice. In our vocabulary, competence involves an intellectual
ability which is based on a thorough coverage of all relevant
Competence in Social Work and Probation Practice 191
infonnation, arguments and facts which provide the cognitive tools

for competent practice. For example, we would expect that a student
of social and probation work would know about the place of social
work and probation in this society; the role and tasks of prac
titioners and debates about care and control, authority and sub
ordination; the diversity of personal, social, family and community
structures and lifestyles; the components of effective communication
with users who come from those diverse structures and lifestyles
(which means knowing and understanding personal and social
predicaments such as those of minority ethnic groups, young people,
adults, offenders, people with physical or learning difficulties); inter
agency work and partnerships; statutory duties and powers,
legislation relevant to children and families, community care and
work with adults, criminal justice and mental health; theories and
models of human behaviour and causes of crime; policy issues
including penal sanctions and effectiveness; national standards for
offenders, family court work and social work in general in the
criminal justice system; working in and with groups (group work);
principles and methods of assessment; community care legislation
and models of contracting, purchasing and provision of services;
research on effectiveness and its relevance to practice; the legal and
policy context of work and the practice implications of social
control, constraints and restrictions; issues about disengagement
from working relationships and managing endings with service users;
time management, resource provision and organisational theories;
knowledge of self and use of self in social work and probation
practice; sources and forms of oppression, disadvantage and
discrimination based on race, gender, religion, language, age, class,
disability and sexual orientation and their impact at the personal
and structural level.
In other words, it is essential that 'students learn about and
understand the legislative framework, philosophy and models of
service delivery' (CCETSW, 1 995:5), that they demonstrate core
knowledge about the range of issues, methods and theoretical
approaches relevant to social work and probation practice, and are
able to make a critical analysis of that knowledge and selectively
apply it in a skilled manner to their practice.
Values
Knowledge on its own, without a moral framework, can lack both

relevance and usefulness. Indeed it can also be dangerous, as it will
know of no boundaries and its application will be another fonn of
'theology', a political fonn of correctness, which dismisses
differences amongst individuals and groups, needs and methods

amongst others and attempts to apply the same rules and perspec
tives to all people and circumstances. In that context, intervention or
service delivery will be guided by a blind need to apply or impose
the rules of confonnity irrespective of circumstances. It is for that
reason that social work and probation practitioners must adhere to
a set of values which are clear but at the same time flexible enough
to account for both the purpose of their work and the fact that the
social context of that work is dictated by diversity.
The diversity is characterised by differences in religion, ethnicity,
culture, language, social status, gender, sexual orientation, family
structure, lifestyles and perceptions of 'normality' (for instance the
way in which people with physical or learning difficulties, sensory
or some other visual or perceived impairment are treated). It is
expected that practitioners will be knowledgeable about such
differences, be aware of their own values and prejudices and be
reflective, and that they will base service provision on clearly
assimilated values which guide their behaviour and interactions
with users.
We have identified a number of core values throughout the book,
whether in the context of working with children and families, or
community care or offenders. Although each context of work may
place more emphasis on some core values than others because of its
peculiar characteristic of dealing with different user-groups, the
same core values are, nonetheless, relevant to every organisational
context of work. For instance, working with offenders requires
particular emphasis on the values of respect for persons and care for
persons. These, though they are core values for social workers in
general, have a more specific meaning for probation officers because
of the nature of their work. As probation officers are dealing, in the
main, with a population of users who bear a serious and official
stigma as a result of committing criminal acts against the law and
the community and are subject to punishment, it is extremely easy to
see them only in that capacity and treat them as alien people. In
short, such values require to be at the forefront of work with
offenders to remind practitioners that those individuals still need to
be treated with dignity and respect; and, as we suggested in Chapter
6, to assist such practitioners to see as well as understand them as
'whole persons'.
In a sense, values are the foundation for the development of core
knowledge and skills and their combined application to practice.
The value base which we have referred to in this book accom
modates a number of significant messages with regard to what
service provision is, should be and ought to be. It should be guided
by a belief (and translated into action) in the rights of the individual,

the right to freedom from harm or abuse, the right to respect, the
right to confidentiality, recognition of difference and diversity, a
commitment to social justice (including recognition of supervision
and control in the community as opposed to institutionalisation),
and accountability (see also CCETSW, 1995:4).
Skills
We argued that skills development is a bridge between exploring

values, acquiring knowledge and translating these into positive
service provision. A number of core skills, relevant to every social
work context, were discussed and used to inform the different
pathways covered.
In summary, we referred to the importance of developing analytic
skills offering a capacity to conceptualise, critically evaluate and
weigh up information and modes of intervention for the best choice
and selection of appropriate and effective means of service pro
vision. We argued that these cognitive skills must also incorporate
research findings in practice and be flexible enough to apply to
diverse contexts and user-groups. Interpersonal skills were also
referred to which emphasise an understanding and awareness of the
self in relation to others and how that interaction has social
consequences for the participants. We emphasised the importance of
establishing and sustaining working relationships with service users
as well as agencies other than the practitioners' own, working with
difference and diversity and negotiating conflicting demands (for
instance, the interests of the child versus those of the family or the
court, the interests of the offender versus the interests of the victim,
the community, the court and political expediency). In addition, we
stressed the importance of listening skills and communicating
verbally, non-verbally and in writing (including via interviews and
presenting reports to courts). Administrative skills (which include
setting priorities, time management, managing workloads, keeping
reliable records and using information technology) are important in
social and probation work tasks. Record-keeping and report-writing
are of particular significance to competent practice. The importance
of recording information accurately and succinctly is paramount.
Information should be completed and stored in accordance with
statutory and legal requirements (if they apply) and with agency and
inter-agency procedures.
Keeping records is an effective and practical way (when it is done
carefully and efficiently) of reviewing progress, giving guidance,
assisting service users to understand the purpose of supervision or
their own actions and helping colleagues to be aware of work

carried out with particular service users.
Most important of all, when reports need to be provided to courts
(for instance in cases of breach of requirements of a community
sentence) such records are essential in offering a clear history of
events, and where necessary can be presented as evidence. In the
HM Inspectorate of Probation ( 1994) report, serious shortcomings
were uncovered in the recording of information. Similarly, the
production of clear, precise and concise written communications
including documents and reports to the courts (for instance pre
sentence reports) is absolutely critical in the creation of a competent
service. Preparation of reports for courts (subject to national
standards: see Home Office et al., 1995) was covered in some detail
in Chapter 6 and it is an area which must be addressed by every
social worker and probation officer. This is because such reports
play a fundamental part in the quest for achieving the value of
'social justice'. Pre-sentence reports, for example, are documents
which assist the courts to make or reach the correct decisions
with regard to sentencing practices. If such reports are of limited
relevance, badly written and prepared (for instance not following
procedure, guidance and appropriate format specified in the national
standards or are full of spelling errors) social workers and probation
officers not only let themselves and their agency down, but also, and
more importantly, service users. The HM Inspectorate of Probation
(1 994:30-3 1 : paras 4.1 0-4 . 1 2) report identified serious deficiencies in
this area and added that:
A variety of practices was noted and disturbing differences in service

ideologies were encountered. . . . The quality assessment of 214 PSRs
revealed that 25 per cent were not of an acceptable standard . . . . 'Same
day' PSRs scored lowest on the overall quality scores for the PSRs
assessed (33 per cent were of an unacceptable standard). . . . Steps should
be taken by all services to ensure that PSRs were of the required
standard. . . . Above all, services should be more proactive in ensuring
the provision of expedited reports, based on a nationally agreed and
consistent policy.
The importance of presenting good reports to courts (criminal or

civil) needs to be recognised by every service. One should expect all
social workers and probation officers (working, say, in youth justice,
criminal courts, and family work) to be skilled in the area.
Another skill which is of paramount importance for competent
work is the ability to gather, record, evaluate and assess people's
needs, rights, risks, strengths, responsibilities and resources. It is also
important that an ability to evaluate the harm which may be caused
by individuals' actions to others and ways of reducing that risk is
present and properly demonstrated. In order to do this efficiently,

practitioners must be able to devise a programme or a 'plan of
intervention or supervision' which specifies the purpose of super
vision, the goals, the means and the outcomes. As pointed out in
Chapter 6, there is evidence to suggest that where such aims and
means are clearly stated, reviewed and assessed together with service
users there appear to be more positive outcomes than when work is
done haphazardly and in an aimless, unchecked fashion.
It is essential to emphasise that the skill of making assessments
and acting on them encompasses all types of social work, including
working with offenders. In that instance, practitioners must also be
able to assess the offence(s) and offending behaviour in the light of
all the circumstances and at the same time evaluate and assess the
risk to the public.
We also referred to the skill of contributing to the planning,
monitoring and control of resources. Practitioners, we argued,
should know about available resources, priorities, criteria and
procedures for their deployment and ensure that resources are
planned and used in efficient ways. It is a skill which in the past was
deemed to be the prerogative of senior managers of a service whilst
others were expected to remain oblivious or ignorant of budgeting
and utilisation of resources. This was a distorted impression of what
social workers and probation officers did but it succeeded in
convincing the majority of practitioners that the best way to avoid
thinking about it was to turn a blind eye to the availability,
distribution and management of resources. This is no longer accept
able nor advisable. Social workers and probation officers have a
duty to know about resource provision and priorities and must
demonstrate skill in managing such resources in the best interests of
their services and their users.
Competence
Competence is a successful amalgamation of knowledge, values and
skills together with a process of understanding one's own self and
what effects that process has on others as well as on the outcome(s)
of supervision, intervention and interpersonal relations with
colleagues, users, and other agencies.
In sum, the argument we have put forward in a consistent manner
is that the 'ability to perform, know and understand is called
competence' (probation Training Unit, 1 994: 1 ; emphasis in original).
This ability, as the Probation Training Unit goes on to define it,
means that a practitioner should be able to undertake a variety of
tasks and activities at work and feel confident that the means and
the outcomes of such activity will be the desirable goals. An able

practitioner should be in a position to deal with a number of tasks
and demands at the same time. That is to say, the tasks of social
work and probation are such that more often than not the workload
involves diverse and competing pressures and the practitioner should
be in a position to utilise appropriate knowledge, values and skills to
deal with this diversity as well as issues which happen or are referred
to them at the same time. Although they can, and should, learn to
prioritise their tasks and manage their workload, they cannot deny
the fact that they are dealing with a variety of users of different ages
and different backgrounds as well as different needs or requirements.
They need to be able to set priorities but, like a competent juggler
who can keep several objects in the air simultaneously, they must be
skilled in negotiating and using appropriate means to handle
different tasks and expectations which are happening simultaneously.
In view of that diversity and the 'juggling act', it follows that
social work and probation practice are highly demanding in both
mental and physical terms. Practitioners need to be constantly alert
about their tasks and the way in which they respond to them. Since
they are dealing with personal, interpersonal, criminal, moral and
social issues and come across severe breakdowns in social rela
tionships, they need to manage pressure, unpredictability, confusion,
conflicting demands and unavoidable disruptions. The difficult task
here is to remain competent without becoming overwhelmed by
these demands to the point of reaching stalemate, loss of confidence
and emotional saturation. They need to be capable of remaining
involved and meeting deadlines (whether in writing reports or record
keeping, meetings or visits) whilst maintaining a distance from users'
own lifestyles, needs and problem-presentations.
As we have suggested on a number of occasions a competent
practitioner is not the one who manages (or wishes) to work alone,
on an individual basis, but one who manages to establish workable
and effective links with other colleagues within his or her own service
or agency and with professionals who represent external agencies.
We have argued that social work knowledge, values and skills
need to be seen as 'evolutionary' . They have a social career which is
constantly expanded, defined, redefined and amended according to
broader changes in the personal, social, political, moral and econ
omic contexts. Competent practitioners, therefore, should adopt a
similar position in their work. Social workers and probation officers
should treat their holistic experience as a transactional exercise
which is constantly in the process of 'becoming': perpetually devel
oping and changing to remain relevant to the context and to prevent
itself from becoming a sad and dangerous anachronism. In its
Competence in Social Work and Probation Practice 1 97
broader sense, this dynamic experience requires social workers and

probation officers to constantly question their knowledge, values
and skills, amend them accordingly, and ensure that they are always
congruent with new findings, ideas, theories, modes and methods of
practice, expectations, requirements and procedures. It is only
through such a competent approach that practitioners can claim
they are efficient and effective and accountable to users, employers
and the general public for their actions.
When all the above are put together, each practitioner must be
able, when required, to offer evidence of conceptualisation, critical
analysis, reflection and transfer of knowledge skills and values from
one context of work to another. This professional competence must
never be seen in static terms but as an ongoing process of learning,
understanding and applying the necessary and most appropriate
combinations of theory and practice for the most effective outcomes.
As a quick reference point for the reader, Figure 7. 1 summarises
the main components of knowledge, values and skills which combine
to create competence.
Practice competence
This section will offer a definition of different types of competence

which arise from the above combination of knowledge, values and
skills. This section will combine the major competences identified in
this book and in social work and probation practice (CCETSW,
1 995; Home Office, 1 995a; Home Office et aI., 1 995; Evans, 1 995;
Pierce, 1 995; Probation Training Unit, 1 994) and present them in a
schematic form. By indicating these competences and by identifying
their major component parts and offering indicators of the type of
activity which needs to be carried out for effective, efficient and
reliable outcomes, students as well as practitioners can understand
their work better and define the parameters against which their
interventions and activities in the field take place. It is intended that
these schematic presentations will be used as a quick reference point
for students and practitioners and as a convenient means of
monitoring standards and performance.
A good illustration of the effectiveness of such an approach to the
promotion and development of competent practice is Middlesex
University's Professional Competence and Assessment Planner (1 994),
developed by the School of Social Work and Health Sciences over a
period of twenty-five years, which is now being used as a model of
good practice by other social work and probation training
departments in the country. The planner was the result of intensive
and pioneering work by academic staff in collaboration with practice
Knowledge Values Skills
Purpose of social work/ Respect for u niqueness Conceptualise

probation Rights of the individual Analyse/interpret
Methods and models Right to choose Use/apply knowledge
Theories of human Right to freedom from Set objectives/prioritise
growth/development harm Communicate/engage
Theories of crime/ Right to confidentiality Record accurately
deviance Respect for the person Negotiate diversity
Legal framework/ Care for the person Apply sanctions
statutory powers Community cohesion Self-awareness/prej udice
Procedural rules/national Question own values Work with difference
standards Challenge/reduce crime Use of authority
Organisational context Challenge discrimination Protect victims' rights
Sources and forms of Challenge disadvantage Deal with diverse tasks
discrimination Social justice Define, plan, evaluate
Components of effective Recognise competing Assess
communication rights Plan appropriate action
Networking/partnerships Provide quality Manage resources
Research and (esearch assessment Time management
findings Be accountable Present quality reports
Effectiveness of Offer value for money Work as a team member
methods/penalties Critically review values Work within legal/
Criminal justice/penal statutory rules
system Invoke legal powers
Groups and group work when appropriate
Principles and methods Demonstrate
of assessment accountability
Commu nity care Review skills/update
Resourcing and costing
services
Drugs and drug misuse
Endings/disengagement
from users
Information systems/
record-keeping
Review knowledge/
update
PRACTICE CO M P ETENCE
Figure 7. 1 The making of practice competence
teachers using as an example and base work done at North College

of Advanced Education, Australia. Following the introduction of
the Diploma in Social Work (CCETSW, 1 99 1 ), the current Head
of School redesigned the original document to meet new standards
and requirements for the DipSW. Since 1 992 (following those sub
stantial amendments) the Programme Leader for Social Work
Programmes has introduced relevant amendments on an annual
basis to relate the planner to changes introduced by CCETSW,
legal requirements, values or skills, thus maintaining the planner as
a relevant learning tool in a fast-changing social, economic and
political environment.
The same principle used in developing and presenting com
petences in the planner, albeit in less detail, is used here to make
sense of the concept of competence. This is done by operationalising
the main constituent parts of knowledge, values and skills discussed
in this book. They are presented in the form of six major practice
competences required by CCETSW (1 995) in conjunction with
specific requirements for probation officers articulated by the Home
Office Training Unit, national standards, and other relevant material
as applicable to social workers and probation officers. It is
important that we make a few qualifications at the outset.
First, the presentation of the six competences and their oper
ationalisation into components and indicators (that is to say, how
they can be understood and identified in practice) does not mean
that we have exhausted the full range of social work and probation
work competences. Rather, we opted for those competences which
are presented as requirements for good practice and whose appli
cation to practice not only leads to a successful completion of
professional training but also confirms the standard of work
required by the Diploma in Social Work (including probation
training) for a professional career in social work.
Secondly, the operationalisation of these competences is not
meant to imply that every social worker and probation officer needs
to satisfy every aspect of those components or indicators. That is not
possible. All we are offering is a heuristic device, an ideal situation
in other words, against which competent practice can be understood,
measured, and amended as appropriate. Indeed, as we said earlier,
the list is not exhaustive and readers and practitioners can add more
detail to those competences and can claim higher goals and
achievements. It offers a foundation on which good practice can be
constructed in a flexible and meaningful way. Indeed, no social work
or probation student or practitioner will ever be in a position to
meet every desirable competence with all its complex constituent
parts. As CCETSW ( 1 995: 1 1) rightly points out, what is important
is that practice 'must be sufficiently contrasting for students to gain

a range of practice experience [and skills] and the opportunity to
understand and demonstrate transferability of knowledge, values
and skills, in practice'. It then goes on to add:
In particular all students must demonstrate that they have met the
practice requirements of Core Competence 'Assess and Plan', in work
with service users who have significantly different needs and circum
stances. . . . The evidence indicators for each of the practice requirements
[competences), are provided as guidance to programme providers and
students. The evidence indicators identify the activities that students
would normally undertake, in order to gain evidence that they have met
practice requirements. However discrete assessment documentation is not
required for each evidence indicator, and the evidence that students will
provide will vary in nature and emphasis, according to practice
opportunities and the particular learning needs of students (CCETSW,
1 995:1 1).
In short, what matters is not that every student and practitioner

must satisfy every possible aspect of every competence (as that is
impossible) but that they demonstrate quality, coherence and suffi
cient awareness and understanding of the issues and real life events
they engage in. This point brings us to the third qualification. That
although one can identify various competences which can be deemed
of particular relevance to social work and probation practice, it is
inappropriate to consider them as distinct entities. Such competences
are interrelated and interlinked, and a competent professional is one
who can demonstrate this interaction of the various constituent parts
of different competences and put their common elements into
practical effect. It is inappropriate for any student of social work
and probation practice to remain oblivious to these connections and
attempt to practise in a mechanical manner which excludes a view of
the whole. We are back, therefore, to our previous argument that
one cannot be competent without managing to offer a holistic
approach (which incorporates knowledge, values and skills). We
argued that competence is the product of a successful integration of
these which is reflected in practice in the demonstration of the
required standards of work. Similarly, as these are competences (as
opposed to merely a competence) the same rule applies. These
distinct competences are distinct only to the extent that they are
defined and explained. In order to produce a consistently reliable
and effective practice, they need to be integrated into a holistic
approach for the achievement of specified tasks.
The final qualification that needs to be made is a reminder of our
argument that social work and probation work are dynamic in their
knowledge, values and skills. The same applies to competences.
There is always scope for improvement. Also, things change.

Nothing remains the same over a period of time. Although the
themes of this book, its major concerns, will remain the cornerstone
of quality and will always be relevant and applicable to the evolving
needs of the social work profession, the reader must constantly strive
for improvements. These improvements cannot be achieved and
attained without the practitioners constantly reviewing and updating
their knowledge, values and skills. Competence cannot be improved
further unless practitioners are willing to resort to their own efforts.
They need to build on what is suggested in this book and regularly
review their tasks and their outcomes in the light of new information
that emerges as their practice goes through change and stages of
development.
In the rest of the chapter we cover the core competences which
accommodate both the official requirements and much of what has
been referred to and discussed in this book. Each core competence is
stated and subsequently analysed in terms of its core components
and indicators.
Core competence 1: communicate and engage
Components Indicators
Form, develop, Take initiative in contacting/relating

sustain working to colleagues within and outside the
relationships agency
Consult with staff
Communicate effectively
Recognise differences!diverse
perspectives
Acknowledge shared values
Understand roles!responsibilities!
statutory or other tasks of own
organisation and other agencies
Reconcile needs of offenders and
communities
Contribute to preventative work!
minimise risk
Challenge attitudes and behaviour
which lead to crime, cause distress,
discrimination and harm to victims
and others
Maintain confidentiality
Networking Understand and communicate

effectively relevant matters including
resources
Seek out, analyse and exchange
information
Assess needs, offence, offending
behaviour and refer to or request
assistance from colleagues or other
agencies
Accept and negotiate competing
perspectives and build on strengths
and expertise
Encourage innovation, creativity and
flexibility in service provision
Service to the Assess users' personal circumstances,

courts assist courts in reaching appropriate
decisions
Present reports (including PSRs)
following guidelines and national
standards
Supervise offenders given community
sentences
Promote care for persons and their
families
Respect persons and accept their
choices
Offer assistance and supervision to
prisoners and their families through
direct work and through-care
Apply constraints/controls as
required
Invoke the law as required
Promote practical support
Recognise that individuals have
rights and responsibilities
Keep accurate records
Draw up supervision plans and set
objectives and means in conjunction
with users
Know and understand relevant
legislation and apply as relevant.
Self-awareness Identify, recognise own values!

prejudices
Promote users' rights, privacy,
confidentiality and protection
Respect and value uniqueness and
diversity
Identify and combat discrimination
Express hope for the future (believe
in bringing out the best in people)
Protect users and others from harm
Challenge attitudes or behaviour
(including offending) which leads to
discrimination, harm, crime or fear of
harm and crirrie
Core competence 2: promote and enable
Promote rights of Balance needs of community and

people at risk courts with those of users
Assist users to represent their
interests and rights
Advocate on behalf of those who
cannot do so for themselves
Safeguard the welfare of children in
family proceedings
Assist offenders to lead law-abiding
lives
Supervise users in an open and
constructive way
Provide Facilitate access to information for

information users
and advice Facilitate access to alternative
services
Provide information as required by
other agencies including courts, and
respect confidentiality as appropriate
Seek out information and advice
from others and update 'information
bank'
Be known to others and use
colleagues within and outside agency
for advice
Assist users to Identify learning opportunities

improve their Assist in reducing financial
life chances dependency through opportunities for
education and training
Challenge a lifestyle which harms
others (e.g. offending behaviour),
carries penalties, severe stigma and
reduces opportunities
Offer advice and assistance to users
for dealing with emotional and
practical difficulties
Challenge discrimination and treat all
users fairly, openly and with respect
Earn the confidence of the public,
courts and individual service users
Assist users to recognise their
strengths, clarify goals, legitimise
means and obstacles
Core competence 3: assess and plan

Assess and review Identify, evaluate context and
needs/problems purpose
Collate and evaluate information
Observe and assess behaviour
Assess offence and offending
behaviour
Assess risk to the public
Check (verify) information from
various sources
Record, store and maintain
information
Frame potential responses for
recommendation, supervision, con
tact or diversion to other agencies
Exchange information with staff and
others
Discuss and exchange information
with users
Produce, if required, clear, precise
and understandable correspondence/
documentation
Produce, if required, clear, precise
and understandable court reports
Identify available resources and
support networks
[dentify, analyse Identify potential risk for users to

"isk of and to harm others
larmlabuse Identify potential risk for users to
harm themselves
Work in partnership with other
colleagues/agencies
Balance the users' and public's rights
against assessment of harm
Evaluate information/evidence for
intervention following statutory
L
requirements, procedure and national
standards
Demonstrate a working knowledge of
the relevant legal and administrative
procedures
Work according Know statutory, legal and

to statutoryllegal administrative procedure and ensure
guidelines application of national standards
Explain to users their legal rights, the
action to be taken within those legal
boundaries and the implications if
they fail to comply with requirements
Ensure users understand the reasons
for intervention
Act according to those legal/statutory
and national standards/rules
Involve users at all stages of action
and ensure that they understand the
language/technical details
Identify language barriers or other
learning difficulties and use an
interpreter
Negotiate and Evaluate and apply research findings

plan responses Consider options and reach choices
Identify modes of intervention/action
and justify
Specify time scales for completion of
tasks and for further reviews/action
Involve users, carers and other
professionals in identifying resources
to meet agreed plans for action
Identify and report any obstacles
(including a shortfall in resources)
which may retard progress and
outcomes
Produce and manage programmes for
the supervision of offenders in the
community
Provide reports and advice to courts
and others and represent agency in
courts and other contexts
Develop methods Cover work in accordance with

of care, support, statutory and legal requirements and
protection national standards
and control Manage and negotiate care and
control
Ensure users are clear about
requirements and their role in the
process
Promote action in a manner which is
likely to reduce distress to users and
others
Apply and enforce orders and
licences where users fail to comply
with court orders according to
national standards
Negotiate and confirm with users and
other professionals and providers a
combination of services
Ensure clear messages are given to
users about their tasks and
L obligations
Clearly state who is accountable to
whom
Core competence 4: intervene/provide services
Develop action! Assist courts in reaching decisions

programmes of about users
care, support, Prepare and produce reports and
protection other documents
and control Use knowledge about methods of
work, courts, partnerships, theories of
causes of crime, penal sanctions,
effectiveness, etc.
Promote anti-discriminatory practice
Work with all types of user, including
prisoners and their families
Address needs, offending behaviour
and risk of re-offending
Provide practical support
Coordinate activity if it involves
different services or other colleagues
Monitor and evaluate the provision
of care, support, supervision or
control
Implement action Select methods appropriate to the

defined task(s)
Negotiate and agree the aims,
expectations and tasks according to
clear rules for ongoing work
Sustain and maintain working
relationships
Maintain a level of contact
appropriate to the task
Respond to expressions of emotional
needs and offer support
Agree time scales for work and
reviews of progress
Review changing circumstances and
amend action plan(s) accordingly
Understand and counteract
discrimination; invoke legal powers if
required
Disengage from relationships at
appropriate time and ensure users
understand action
Treat all users fairly, openly and with
respect
Respect users' choice but challenge
behaviour which leads to harm to
themselves and others
Draw clear boundaries and
expectations of behaviour
Core competence 5: working with organisation
Assist in the Contribute to the planning, allocation

improvement of and evaluation of work by groups,
service delivery individuals and self
Contribute to the planning, allocation
and evaluation of the team's work
Contribute to team and self
development and improve
performance
Set out clearly your role within the
team
Establish, maintain and enhance
effective working relationships
Establish and maintain reliability and
trust
Relate to authority and immediate
supervisor
Provide support to other colleagues
Hold staff and self accountable for
quality of work
Enhance effective communication
patterns between agency and service
users
Assess and evaluate team and self
performance
Assist to plan, Assist in the planning and use of

monitor and available resources
control resources Monitor and contribute to the
control of resources
Make suggestions for enhancing
resource provision
Devise plan for enhancing resource
provision
Evaluate Seek feedback from colleagues and

effectiveness users
and efficiency Have defined criteria for measuring
effectiveness
Know available research findings
Enable users to express their views on
service received
Discuss such expressed views with
users, team and supervisors and
respond accordingly
Analyse the impact of self on those
directly affected and their support
networks
Record evaluations and use to
monitor future developments
Share evaluations with team and
learn from the experience
Core competence 6: develop professional competence
Use supervision Use supervision in a constructive and

effectively and informative manner
manage workload Agree priorities and do not hesitate
to explore professional matters in
detail
Act in accordance with expectations,
role and responsibilities
Develop coping techniques and ways
of dealing with stress
Provide high Provide accessible and timely pre

quality infonnation, sentence reports
assessment and Deliver national standards for family
related services to court welfare work
courts/other users Provide timely bail infonnation
reports
Provide timely parole assessment
reports focusing on assessment and
management of risk to the public
Develop measures to enhance the
service's public profile and public
understanding of the role of the
probation service, social services or
other agency in the welfare/criminal
justice system
Maintain high Offer provision for high-quality

standards of strategic planning
quality Offer provision for financial
planning, monitoring and control
Assist in the effective deployment of
self and other staff
Exchange, process Participate in and contribute to staff

and report meetings/discussions
infonnation Provide reports!documents for
colleagues and other professionals!
agencies
Provide reports to courts as necessary
and subject to national standards
Record, evaluate and store
infonnation according to agency
guidelines, legal requirements,
procedures and national standards
Competence in Social Work and Probation Practice 2 1 3
Assist in the Acknowledge, identify and

resolution of understand competing interests and
competing possible conflicts
professional Identify means of resolving
interestS/conflicts difficulties/conflicts
Negotiate differences and practise in
an effective way
Reach decisions Reflect on performance, tasks and

and make choices challenges
Clarify, verify and organise
information necessary to decision
making
Take responsibility for decisions and
their outcome(s)
Identify opportunities, circumstances,
resources, etc. which could contribute
to relevant decisions
Identify obstacles to reaching
decisions
Identify means of overcoming
obstacles
Evaluate and discuss risks associated
with decisions
Record and store decisions with
clearly stated rationale and means of
achieving desired outcome(s)
Critically evaluate Welcome and contribute to appraisals

and promote own and reviews of own knowledge,
professional values, skills and practice
development Update knowledge, values and skills
and integrate with new policies,
legislative requirements, national
standards, administrative procedure,
research findings, etc.
Integrate new knowledge, values and
skills into practice
Use agency staff development
opportunities and assist in the
enhancement of team performance
Take responsibility for own
continuing learning and development
Remain, at all times, accountable for
own professional competence
Maintain, at all times, a sense of
fairness and social justice
Summary and conclusion .
In the last few years social work and probation work have under
gone considerable change. Indeed, so much change that practitioners
as well as educators are beginning to question their capacity to
understand the rationale of such abrupt and continuous amendments
to their working environment. CCETSW's introduction of a new set
of requirements and a continuum of education and training in
cooperation with major government, employer, educational and
professional interests (CCETSW, 1 99 1 , 1 995; Nellis, 1 996) has had
far-reaching effects on the quality, type and mode of education and
training in social work. These effects are being felt in vocational
qualifications in social care (NVQs and GNVQs); the professional
studies and training for all social workers, including probation
officers; practice learning for qualified social workers and probation
officers who supervise DipSW students (for instance approval of
social and probation work agencies as recognised practice settings
and training and accreditation of practice teachers); post-qualifying
education and training (in the form of a post-qualifying-level award
and an advanced award); constant amendments to the requirements
(hence a new and revised DipSW in the form of new regulations and
expectations in regard to the competences relevant to effective social

work and probation practice); new legislation (for example the
Children Act 1 989, National Health Service and Community Care
Act 1 990, Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 , Criminal Justice and Public
Order Act 1 994, among others) and new indications from the
government that more legislation is on the way to define or redefine
the work of social workers and probation officers working in the
criminal justice system (see Home Office, 1 995b; Vass, 1 996); and,
perhaps far more relevant for the future of social work in this
country, the revival and re-emergence of the old question of whether
probation work is social work or whether it should be deemed to be
a separate profession with its separate knowledge, values, skills and
competences (Dews and Watts, 1 994; Home Office, 1 995c, 1995d;
Nellis, 1 996).
With so much change and transformation there is a real risk that
social work and probation practice may lose their direction and
what little credibility they have had with other agencies such as the
courts and the public at large. This book has taken this threat
seriously and has provided a detailed, critical and informative
account of how practitioners can remain confident, efficient and
effective through competent practice. The book is unique in its
presentation of social work and probation practice. It has addressed
conceptual and practice issues which others have taken for granted.
It has unified knowledge, values and skills and applied them to
particular pathways (children and families, community care and
work with adults, crime, probation and work with offenders). And it
has integrated the two parts to produce both an argument as well as
a conceptual and practical tool (in the form of defined and
operationalised competences) for use by students and practitioners.
As such we believe we have demonstrated that it is possible to
bring together diverse and competing perspectives and practices and
offer a unitary approach to the understanding, conceptualisation
and practice of social work and probation.
Our integration of knowledge, values and skills with distinct
(though interrelated) pathways to produce a set of competences
which should be aimed at by students and practitioners has been
guided and achieved by a strong belief that, irrespective of change
and amendments to social work and the probation service which are
imposed either by internal reorganisations of services or by outside
political forces, the relevant themes and practices detailed here will
always remain the main focus and core concerns of practitioners.
The core knowledge, values and skills which inform practice and
whose successful integration leads to competent practice; the
interrelationship of pathways, albeit with their distinct focus subject
to the characteristics of service users and relevant statutory, legal

and administrative requirements; and the development of clearly
stated competences which relate to efficiency and quality of per
formance in every social work and probation context form the gist
of the subject-matter and practice orientation of social work and
probation practice. Their relevance for the present and the future
remains secured. We believe that students and practitioners of social
work and those working with offenders will find this book of
particular assistance in understanding, learning, appreciating and
negotiating core requirements in their quest for competent practice.
In conclusion, we need to emphasise the fact that competent
practice requires an integration of knowledge, values and skills and
a constant search for learning and development. It is folly to
consider that social work and probation skills can be learned and
practised merely by rehearsing past events. It is important that
practitioners learn to be self-critical and to aim at promoting their
efficiency and effectiveness by continuous education and training.
Without this, practice becomes dated and in many respects a risky
business. For example, if it is necessary to resort to knowledge with
a legal basis when working with children and families, community
care and adults, or offenders, and the practitioner is using legislation
which has been superseded by other laws, his or her practice will be
marred by incompetence and serious failures in regard to outcomes.
We now come to the most difficult aspect of social work and
probation practice (a point raised elsewhere: Vass, 1 987). Social
work in general is a social relationship. Whether it is probation with
offenders or work with adults or children, the common denominator
is that such work is done with people, for people and by people. By
their very social nature, social workers and probation officers will
always have to wrestle with competing perspectives, contradictory
and ambivalent expectations of their tasks and functions, and will
always be in the middle of conflicting social, political, ethical and
moral imperatives. As their actions are determined by the social
contexts within which social relationships develop or break down,
their actions and decisions will always carry a social and moral risk:
decisions which may be deemed rational and professional in one
context - and provide the precedent for other similar situations -
may be deemed (if new changes in legislation, requirements,
guidelines, procedures, attitudes and expectations are not taken into
account) irrational and incompetent in another. This is an inherent
risk in social work as well as probation. Social workers or probation
officers, irrespective of how competent and informed they are, must
accept that they will always be standing at the moral crossroads of
personal, organisational and societal cultures and responsibilities.
They will not, and should not, be (as that can prove disastrous
in practice), genuinely confident or 'absolutely' efficient when
confronted with service users, or a social problem, say child abuse
and neglect, or crime and offenders, or when having to diagnose
cause and effect or prescribe appropriate action. Uncertainty is the
gist of social work and probation practice. Social workers and
probation officers exist and perform in the grey areas of social life
where exact solutions and measurements cannot be possible. Indeed
they should not pretend, or be expected to pretend, by inflated
claims about competences that they can find exact solutions or that
their fortunes will improve by resort to new methods of vocational
training (such as NVQs and GNVQs). The danger is that such
vocational training may in fact destabilise the synergy which exists
between knowledge, values and skills and the emergence of com
petences may neglect and impair the intellectual development of
practitioners. Their capacity for analytical and informed practice
will be severely curtailed and undermined.
Social workers and probation officers, therefore, must always
accept those social risks and act cautiously. Every case they deal
with and every social issue or problem that confronts them is
unique. So whilst it is possible to generalise and show students and
practitioners what to do in certain circumstances an open mind is
essential and each case must be considered a 'special' case, in order
to reduce or minimise risk. That is also why it is imperative that an
amalgamation and integration of knowledge, values and skills take
place for effective practice. For such a combined effort, together
with a constant eye on advice and administrative procedure laid out
by statutory and agency rules (for instance in cases of child
protection and neglect), helps to ensure that those inherent risks are
kept at bay.
Practitioners must maintain that synergy and promote good
practice if they wish to be recognised and valued for what they do.
At the same time there is a clear message for social work and
probation practitioners: that social work (including probation) is not
just a science. Maybe it is not a science at all, in the usual definition
of the concept, though that is another matter. Rather, it is a form of
'art' (England, 1986). As with any piece of art, it is not the quantity
which emphasises its value. It is the message, the insights and the
meaning that are generated and interpreted by others which give any
art its priceless value. Social workers and probation officers should
take more notice of their art and should be encouraged to evaluate
their own work and consider it as an important and effective way of
keeping society together and assisting in the quest for social justice.
They have a role, and an important one at that, to play in the social
structure. Finally they should recognise their own art as something

which is valuable and worth preserving for future generations of
social workers and probation officers and for service users who will
continue to benefit from them. But to achieve that, and to ensure
that others interpret them in the same light, they should remember
to practise the art of effectiveness which if paraphrased goes
something like this: 'it ain't what you do, it's the way you do it,
that's what counts!' It is not what social workers and probation
officers do that matters but how they do it. This book has given
much consideration to the 'hows' of the tasks and how practitioners
can develop into efficient professionals. It is worth waiting to see if
the message has been successfully transmitted and received. Time
will tell.
References
(paper 30) 2nd edn. London: Central Council for Education and Training in Social
Work.
CCETSW (1995) DipSW: Rules and Requirements for the Dploma i in Social Work
(paper 30) revised edn. London: Central Council for Education and Training in
Social Work.
Dews, V. and Watts, J. (1994) Review of Probation Officer Recruitment and Qualifying
Training. London: Home Office.
England, H. (1986) Social Work as an Art. London: Allen & Unwin.
Evans, R. (1995) 'CCETSW revised paper 30 requirements and probation officer core
competences', letter to Rachael Pierce, Assistant Director, Education and Training,
CCETSW. London: Home Office Training Unit, 20 March (roimeo).
HM Inspectorate of Probation (1994) Annual Report 1993-1994. London: Home
Office.
Home Office (1995a) The Probation Service: Three Year Plan for the Probatian
Service 1995-1998. London: Home Office.
Home Office (1995b) Strengthening Punishment in the Community: A Consultatian
Paper. London: HMSO.
Home Office (1995c) Review of Probation Officer Recruitment and Qualifying
Training. Discussion Paper. London: Home Office (roimeo).
Home Office (1995d) Review of Probation Officer Recruitment and Qualifying
Training. Decision Paper by the Home Office. London: Home Office.
Service Division.
Middlesex University (1994) Professional Competence and Assessment Planner.
Enfield, London: School of Social Work and Health Sciences, Middlesex
University.
Vass (cds), Working with Offenders: Issues. Contexts and Outcomes. London: Sage.
pp. 7-30.
Pierce, R. (1995) 'Response to Rick Evans, Head of the Home Office Training Unit'
(internal communication). London: Central Council for Education and Training in
Social Work, March (mimeo).
Probation Training Unit (1994) Introducing Competences: A Guide to Probaticn
Service Staff. London: Home Office.
Vass, A.A. (1987) 'CCETSW's prescriptions for change', Social Work Today, 1 8(20):
27.
Vass, A.A. (1996) 'Community penalties: the politics of punishment', in T. May and
A.A. Vass (eds) Working with Offenders: Issues, Contexts and Outcomes. London:
Sage. pp. 1 57-84.
Index
Access to Health Records Act 1991, Bebbington, A., 87

69 Becker, H. S., 157
Access to Personal Files Act 1989, 69 Beckford, Jasmine, 9, 46, 65
access to records, 68-70 behavioural psychology, 16
administrative skills, 67-71 Beistek, F. P., 43
adoption legislation, 26 Berger, R. M., 18
adults, working with, 6, 1 06-29 Berridge, D., 101
values in community care, 48-52 Beveridge, W., 40, 41
advocacy, 77-8 Biehal, N., 50
ageing, and sexual orientation, 18 biological theories of crime, 147-51
ageism, 127-8 black people
Allen, N., 98, 99 and criminal justioe system, 53-4,
analytic skills, 65-6 144, 172
Anderton, J., 21 'raoe' and racism, 18, 42, 47, 52
anomie theory, 1 53-5 racial harassment, 23
anti-discriminatory practioe, 12-13, 43, Blumer, H., 156
47 Booth, General William, 40
and community care, 50-2 Boswell, G. 183-4
R.,
knowledge, 17-19 Bottoms, A. E., 136, 137
and work with offenders, 54, Bowlby, J., 19
137-9 Brake, M., 41
see also discrimination Brown, A., 22
approved social workers (ASWs), 16, 28, Brown, H. C., 43
123-4 Bulger, James, 37
area probation committees, 167 Burrell, G., 13-14
art, social work as an, 217-18
assessment, 22, 194-5 care (of children), 98-102
and care management, 1 14-17 care and control dichotomy, 136-7
core components, 205-7 care management, 1 12-17
decision-making in, 78-9 Care Management and Assessment:
of mentally distressed people, 124-6 Practitioner's Guide (DOH),
attendanoe oentre orders, 173 1 14-15
Attorney-General, role in crirninal justioe care orders, 98-9
system, 1 66 care-planning, 1 14-17
Audit Commission, 1994 report, 89 Care Programme Approach (CPA) (DOH
authority, using, 74-5 et al.), 125-6
Aymer, c., 76 Care Sector Consortium (CSC), 3
carers,
49-50, 1 16, 120
Bailey, R., 41 abuse by, 128-9
Bald, H., 101 Carew, R., 8
Barclay Report, 50, 62, 83, 101, 108 Caring for People (DOH), 109-10
222 Index
CCETSW (Central Council for competence/s, 6-7, 1 84-5, 195-7

Education and Training in Social core components, 2 1 1 - 1 4
Work), 1 , 2, 1 3, 27, 37, 38-9, 44, and lcnowledge, 30- 1
47, 49, 5 1 , 52, 54 practice competence, 197-214
Paper 30, 2-4, 5, 9, 36, 37, 44, 48, in work with offenders, 133-4
1 14, 1 29, 1 35, 1 83, 1 84-5, 1 9 1 , confidentiality, 48
1 99-200, 2 1 4 in pre-sentence reports, 176
charitable organisations, 39-41 conflict theory, 1 59-63
Charity Organisation Society (COS), 40 Conservative Party, 37
chief probation officers, 167 control theory, 1 5 1-2
Child Abuse: A Study of Inquiry Reports Coulshed, V., 79
1980-1989 (DOH), 64, 68 Court of Appeal, 1 7 1
Child Protection guidelines (DOH), 78 courts
Children Act 1 989, 9, 26, 39, 47, 64-5, care orders, 98-9
77, 85-6, 86-9, 98, 99, 102 core components of servicing, 202,
children and families, working with, 6, 212
83-103 preparing reports for, 1 74-6, 194
child protection, 78, 92-7, 1 8 1 structure, 1 69-7 1
preventative work, 86-92 crime
substitute care, 98-102 definition and measurement, 141-4
values, 45-8 fear of, 144-5
Children and Young Persons Act 1 969, theories of, 145-66
1 79-80 and unemployment, 140- 1
Children and Young Persons Act 1933, Criminal Justice Act 1 99 1 , 9, 1 5, 26,
1 69, 1 76 39, 53-4, 1 32, 1 38, 1 69, 173,
Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons 1 74
Act 1 970, 108 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act
circuit judges, 1 69-70 1 994, 26, 1 74
clerks to the justices, 170 criminal justice system, 166-83
Qeveland inquiry, 46, 47, 83 criminology, 1 40-5
client-centred approach, 43 theories of crime, 145-66
Cloward., R., 1 55 crisis intervention, 20
cognitive-developmental psychology, 1 6 critical criminology, 1 59-63
cognitive skills, 63-7 Crown Courts, 1 69-70
Cohen, S., 1 55 Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), 166,
combination orders, 179 1 68-9
communication relationship with police, 1 67-8
core components, 201-3 curfew orders, 173
see also interpersonal skills custody
communities supervision before and after release,
and crime prevention, 1 64-5 180
right to respect, 47 use of, 53
community care, 6, 108-22
background, 1 08-9 Data Protection Act 1 984, 69
values, 48-52 decision-making
community penalties, 1 7 1 -80 core components, 213
community service orders, 1 78 skills, 78-9
'consent', 55 Denney, D., 52-3
community work, debate between Department of Health and Social
development and activism, 22-3 Services Inspectorate (SSI), 1 1 1
Index 223
difference Fischer, Jo, 1 8 1

individual, 42-3, 50-2 Fisher, M o , 77
working with, 75-7 Fishwick, Co, 1 1 9
Diploma in Social Work: (DipSW), 2-4, Furniss, To, 95-6
9, 44, 1 14, 199, 214
see also CCETSW, Paper 30 genetic theories of crime, 147-51
disability Gibbons, Jo, 87, 94, 103
critique by disability movement, Giller, Ho, 89
1 20-2 Gilroy, Po, 42
user involvement, 5 1 -2 Goffinan, Eo, 14
Disability Rights Bill 1994, 121 Gramsci, Ao, 56
discrimination Griffiths Report, 48, I I I
against elders, 127-8 group work, 24
historical context, 106-8 theories and models, 22, 122
see a/so anti-discriminatory practice
Doel, Mo, 69 Hall, Ao, 21
drug misuse, 154 Hardy, Jo, 36
Durkheim, Eo, 1 53 Harker, A., 39
Henry, Tyra, 9, 65
eclecticism, 10- 1 1 Hicks, Co, 128
economic theories of crime, 145-7 High Court, 171
education, and substitute care, 100-2 High Court judges, 169
elders, HM Inspectorate of Probation, 133, 167
abuse of, 127-9 1994 report, 194
knowledge of, 123 Holman, Bo, 87
see a/so ageing Home Secretary, role in criminal justice
empowerment, 1 18-20 system, 166
enabling and promotion, core hospital
components, 203-4 alternatives to, 1 26-7
Engels, Fo, 160 discharge from, 1 25-6
Equal Opportunities Statement, 4 House of Lords, as court, 171
Ericson, Ro Vo, 157 Howe, Do, 14
Erikson, Eo, 123 Hudson, Ao, 47
evaluation
of self, core components, 214 Independent, 142-3
of service, core components, 2 1 1 'independent living', 120-1
skills, 65-6 individual difference, 42-3, 50-2
individual rights, 42
Fagen, Ro, 2 1 and childcare practice, 45-8
families individual work, 23-4
decline of nuclear, 40 individuals, valuing, 43-4
importance in work with adults, 1 22 inter-agency work, 1 1 3-14
right to respect, 47 interpersonal skills, 71-8
and systems theory, 21 intervention
see also children and families core components, 208-9
Farmer, Eo, 97 effectiveness in work with offenders,
fear of crime, 144-5 1 8 1-3
Feldman, Do, 148, 149 social work knowledge, 19-24
feminist theory, 1 5, 21, 38, interviews, with mentally distressed
in criminology, 165 people, 124-6
224 Index
Introducing Competences (Probation National Council for Vocational

Training Unit), 132, 133, 1 84, Qualifications (NCVQ), 2
195-6 National Foster Care Association, 102
Iveson, C., 1 19, 1 29 National Health Service and Community
Care Act 1990, 9, 14-15, 26, 28,
Jackson, S., 1 0 1 -2 39, 49, 5 1 , 77, 109, 1 13, 121
Jones, A., 1 8 1 National Institute for Social Work, 3
judges, 169-71 national standards, 28, 54-5, 64, 1 33
and community penalties, 177, 178,
knowledge, 6, 8-31 179, 180
historical context, 10- 1 3 neglect of effectiveness issues, 182
and inter-agency work, 1 1 3-14 and pre-sentence reports, 175
of research, 63-5 National Vocational Qualification
summary, 190-1 (NVQ), 1 14
and work with adults, 122-3 negotiation, 77-8
and work with offenders, 1 39-83 networking, core components, 202
labelling theory, 1 56-9 offenders, working with, 6, 64, 132-85

Langan, M., 49 knowledge, 139-83
Lawrence, M., 19 skills, 183-4
Lawson, B., 69 values, 52-6, 1 34-9, 192
learning difficulties, 5 1-2 O'Hagan, K., 20
legislation Ohlin, L., 1 55
core components, 206 Oliver, M., 108, 1 09, 121
knowledge, 25-8 organisational issues
values, 39 core components, 210- 1 1
see also individual Acts knowledge, 29-30
Lemert, E. M., 1 57 Orkney inquiry, 83
Local Government Act 1988, 28 Ovretveit, J., 69
Owen, M., 97
magistrates, 170-1
magistrates' courts, 169 parents, and child protection
Mannheim, K., 41 involvement, 95-7
Marsh, P., 77 rights, 46
Marx, K., 1 60 Parsloe, P., 1 1 1 , 1 19
mens rea, 142-3 participation see user involvement
mental distress, 123-7 partnership, 77-8
Mental Health Act 1983, 14, 16, 123, in child protection, 46, 96-7
126 in community care, 1 1 7-1 8
Mental Health Act Code of Practice Parton, N., 8 , 95
(DOH et al.), 28, 123, 124 Patterns and Outcomes in Child
Mental Health Task Force, 126 Placement (DOH), 99
Merton, R. K., 153-4 Payne, M., 9, 1 1
Miles, J., 87 Pearson, G., 1 1 , 38
Millham, S., 1 0 1 Phoenix, A., 1 8
Morgan, 1 3-14 Pilalis, ] . , 21
Morris, 120, 121 planning
care-planning, 1 14-17
NACRO, 55 core components, 205-7
National Assistance Act 1 948, 25, 108 knowledge, 1 9-24
Index 225
Plato, 161 Rose, W., 89

Plummer, K., 1 56-7, 1 58-9 Rutherford, A., 53, 54
police, role in criminal justice system, Ryburn, M., 1 7
167-8
policy Schattscheider, J . , 159
local aspects, 28-9 Scottish Vocational Educational Council
social policy, 1 3- 1 5 (SCOTVEC), 2
political context of values, 37-9 Seebohm Report, 63, 108
politicisation of crime, 1 60-3 self-awareness, 56-7, 72-3, 1 83-4
Poor Laws 1834, 41 core components, 203
poverty, and childcare problems, 87 sentencing, 171-80
Powers of Criminal Courts Act, 1973, interpretation of guidelines, 54-5
1 32 service provision
pre-sentence reports (PSRs), 1 74-6, 194 core components, 208-9
privatisation, 54 social work as direct, 1 1 2-13
probation orders, 1 76-8 sexual orientation
Probation Rules, 132 and ageing, 1 8
probation service assumptions i n work with adults, 109
purpose, 1 34 as definition of identity, 43
recruitment, 1-2 homophobia, 47
structure, 1 66-7 Sheldon, B., 8
procedures, 28-9 skills, 6, 24, 62-81
Professional Competence and Assessment and inter-agency work, 1 1 3-14
Planner (Middlesex University), summary, 193-5
197-8 and work with offenders, 1 83-4
psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theories, Smale, G., I l l , 1 19
1 1-12, 1 8, 42, 56 Smith, D., 140, 152, 165
and crime, 147-9 social disorganisation theory, 1 51-2
psychology, 12, 1 5-17, 20 social learning theory, 16
psychological theories of crime, social policy, 13-15
147-51 social problems, 13-15
punishment credo, 53, 54 social psychology, 16
purchaser/provider split social work knowledge, 19-24
and care management, I I I sociology, 12, 13-15, 20
and evaluation, 66 sociological theories of crime, 1 5 1 -66
Socrates, 161
radical social work, 12-13, 41-3 Sprack, J., 168
Raynor, P., 1 82 statistics
realist criminology, 163-5 crime statistics, 143-4
record-keeping, 67-7 1, 193-4 usefulness for practice, 64-5
recorders, 170 Stevenson, 0., 1 1 1 , 1 19
report-writing, 67-7 1, 194 strain theory, 1 52-3
pre-sentence reports, 1 74-6, 194 subcultural theory, 1 55
Republic (plato), 161 supervision orders, 1 79-80
research knowledge, 63-5 Sutherland, E. R., 155
resource management, 79-80, 195 symbolic interactionism, 1 56-7, 160-1
core components, 210 systems theory, 21, 122
Robinson, M., 101
Rock, P., 1 59 Taylor, I., 1 54
Rogers, C. R., 43 Temple, Archbishop, 1 37
226 Index
Thohum, J., 96-7 Ward, R., 138

Thomas, W. I., 144 Ward, S., 1 38
Thrasymachus, 1 6 1 Wasik, M., 170
Townsend, P . , 128 Weber, M., 148
Trevillion, S. 50-I welfare checklist, 98-9
Tunstill, J., 88 Wertheimer, A., 1 18
White City Project, 24
unemployment, and crime, 140-1 Williams, F., 51
United Nations Convention on the Williams, K. S., 1 4 1 , 142, 147, 1 55
Rights of the Child, 176 Wilson, E., 1 8
user involvement women
in community care, 48-52, 1 17-20 and criminal justice system, 54, 143,
parental, in child protection, 95-7 172
and criminology, 165
values, 6, 36-57 and fear of crime, 145
in childcare practice, 45-8 psychology, 18-19
in community care, 48-52 Women's Therapy Centre, 18-19
historical context, 39-44 Woodcock, Shirley, 68
and inter-agency work, 1 1 3-14 Woodroofe, K., 40
summary, 191-3 working relationships, 73-4
and work with offenders, 52-6, core components, 201
1 34-9, 192 Working Together guidelines (DOH),
Vass, A. A., IS, 30-1, 38 96
Verstehen (Weber), 148
victims of crime, 162-3 youth courts, 1 69, 170-1
vocational training, 2, 1 14, 214, 217 preparing reports for, 176

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Recent changes in the training requirements for social workers and

Core Knowledge, Values and Skills

First published 1996

All rights reserved. No part of this pUblication may be

SAGE Publications Ltd

SAGE Publications Inc

SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is

ISBN 0 8039 7799 9

Typeset by Mayhew Typesetting, Rhayader, Powys

Notes on Contributors viii

Introduction: The Quest for Quality

Like a wreath around your face

The authors and publishers wish to thank the Department of Health

Helen Cosis Brown is Principal Lecturer at Middlesex University

youth justice system. She is currently involved in a research project

Antony A. Vass is Professor of Social and Penal Studies and Head of

qualifying advanced award are being introduced. Together with the

workers on which to base the revision of the Statement of Require­

1. to achieve contemporary relevance for the qualification, in the

On 23 February 1995, CCETSW Council approved the revised

The Diploma in social Work is the professional social work qualification

Whether the above claims are sustainable it is too early to know.

discussing them, applying them and constantly upgrading or

experienced social work academics and practitioners with expertise

understanding of what competenees mean and what they may imply

The Knowledge Base of Social Work

The relationship between social work practice and knowledge has

Discussions about the knowledge base of social work may there­

1987; Payne, 1991). The different methods of organisation and

The historical context of social work's use of knowledge

The author of this chapter once heard social workers described by

eclecticism, and was not alone in seeing it as one of the fundamental

anti-discriminatory practice ideas in precisely those areas in the

Knowledge that informs the practitioner about the client's

Social work has drawn on a number of different areas, including

Sociology, social problems and social policy

that facilitates an understanding of the relationships between

Care Act 1 990. Interrelated with the critique of 'total institutions'

be familiar with abnormal psychology, for they will be working, in

Psychology and sociology have both proved to b e essential,

of knowledge, values and practice and the difficult interpretative

sense of women's experience (Eichenbaum and Orbach, 1 983; Ernst

Knowledge that helps the practitioner plan appropriate

Theories and models

over time and have responded to the changing contexts in which

and new contributions. It is essential that practitioners maintain a

Methods of social work intervention

remains a debate between community development work and com­

Processes involved in social work intervention

Knowledge that clarifies the practitioners understanding of

Social work does not operate in a vacuum: it is part of the complex

need an understanding of the nature, sources and administration of

they keep in close touch with developments. Although the burden

degree of confidence in the skills of giving evidence effectively, and

Policy and procedures

policies, procedures, provisions and personnel. This includes a

political grounds and in an attempt to manage growing demands

Concl�on: competence and knowledge

'Knowledge must be treated as a constant, dynamic process of being.

Social work knowledge must be seen in the same way: as a

workers on which to base the revision of the Statement of Require

Discussions about the knowledge base of social work may there

remains a debate between community development work and com